Svitlana Yakivyuk with a child patient at her clinic

Providing the children of rural Ukraine with access to quality medicine is one example of how the Resilience Initiative launched by Worldwide Foundation for Credit Unions (WFCU) and the USAID/WOCCU Credit for Agriculture Producers (CAP) Project helps Ukrainian communities in wartime. 

Svitlana Yakivyuk, an otolaryngologist with 23 years of experience treating patients at her private clinic in Revakivtsi Village, Chernivtsi Oblast, works to provide such access. With the nearest hospital a 30-minute drive from the village, it is often challenging for parents to take their kids there for treatment. To ensure they can still receive needed medical assistance in their village, Svitlana decided to purchase additional equipment for her clinic.

The doctor was happy to find out that her credit union, “CU Kosivska”, cooperates with international partners and can disburse lower-interest loans for this specific purpose.

Thanks to a US $13,500 loan from CU Kosivska made possible by the Resilience Initative, Svitlana was able to purchase a new computer diagnostic device, ultrasound and X-ray machines, and modern medical tools for small surgeries.

All this essential equipment helps Svitlana keep young Ukrainians healthy with less travel for their parents, which is especially crucial in wartime. Moving forward, Svitlana also plans to enlarge her team and hire three more staff members at her clinic.

WFCU in June 2023 launched the $500,000 Resilience Initiative in cooperation with the CAP Project as a credit union lending program aimed at assisting vulnerable populations and boosting sustainable development in Ukraine.

The loans specifically target businesses owned by women, or by those who were either internally displaced or left the country due to the war and have now returned to Ukraine. It also assists with sustainable finance for micro-, small- and medium-sized businesses located in rural areas.