Podcast Interview with Sam Daley-Harris

At a recent event at the Dallas-based Chiapas Project Junior Committee, Youth Venture Ambassador Brian Weinberg sat down to speak with Microcredit Summit Campaign Director, Sam-Daley Harris.

Click here to listen

Special thank for making this available online go to Dallas Social Venture Partners as part of their podcast series "Maximizing Social Impact: A Podcast about Social Ventures".

Panelist Nominations for the 2010 Africa - Middle East Regional Microcredit Summit

We are seeking nominations for top plenary and workshop panelists for the Africa-Middle East Regional Microcredit Summit.

Being selected as a panelist is an excellent way for leaders of MFIs, governments, development agencies and academic institutions to showcase their successes and breakthroughs and learn from other experts in the field. Your feedback and recommendations are greatly appreciated.

To nominate a panelist, please complete the following form NO LATER THAN Thursday, November 19, 2009. Please consider that we are primarily seeking nominations for panelists knowledgeable in the Africa - Middle East region.

To nominate a panelist, please Click Here

Or paste the following link into your browser window:

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=PfBN5CRpzTQVOSAlZpBC8Q_3d_3d

Thank you for your input!

BRAC Uganda reaches 100,000 microfinance borrowers in less than 3.5 Years

Congratulations to the great work BRAC Uganda is doing in providing microcredit to East Africa!

Dr. Fazle Hasan Abed, the Founder and Chairperson of BRAC disbursed BRAC Uganda’s first ever loan in June 2006 at the Iganga branch. Dr. Abed is also serving on MCS' Regional Advisory Committee for the upcoming Africa-Middle East Regional Microcredit Summit, April 2010 in Nairobi, Kenya.

From their announcment:

"BRAC Uganda has set a remarkable record by reaching 100,000 borrowers in less than 3.5 years since that start of its microfinance operations in Uganda in June 2006. With an average annual borrower growth rate of 139%, BRAC Uganda is in the company of other rapidly growing microfinance institutions in world."

The Micro-approach: Overlooked Way to Get out of Poverty

An excellent article in Foreign Policy entitles "How Microfinance Changes the Lives of Millions² has been published recently aiming to debunk the micro approach.

The author of the article, Shweta S. Banerjee, mentions that microfinance field is a pretty young field of expertise compared to macroeconomic level; therefore it cannot be judged hastly without letting it demonstrate that it can be an useful way to help people getting out of poverty.

It can look odd but poor people CAN save money. But to do it, they need some financial institutions that give them the opportunity to thrift. As she mentions in her article ²helping the poor save, before or along with providing credit, might be the missing piece to help solve the poverty puzzle.² Savings are the first step towards creating assets in a long term. Can you imagine yourself without a bank account? For sure not, those poor people need to prove that they can save money and eventually get loan to improve their life conditions and therefore their future.

²So, let's not be so dismissive of micro, and let's give up the idea of going back to the old days of thinking only at the macro level. A million people here, and a million there, and pretty soon thinking small can have a very big impact indeed.²

You can read the article here.

Grameen Foundation in a $162.5 Million Credit Guarantee Partnership with USAID

On Monday, USAID has announced a partnership with Grameen Foundation for a $162.5 Million Credit Guarantee. By this valuable partnership, it will easier for the microfinance institutions (MFI) to access private credit as USAID and Grameen Foundation will share the credit risk.

As we all know, effects of the actual financial crisis also has an influence on the MFIs. As the unemployment rate increases, more and more people are trying to setup a micro-enterprise and this has increased the demand for microcredit.

According to USAID and Grameen Foundation, the 3 major ways that MFIs get funding are reinvestment of repaid customer loans, loans from commercials banks and finally grants from donors. As the financial crisis has reduced the access of commercial financing to the MFIs, this partnership between USAID and Grameen Foundation will provide credit enhancement for the MFIs.

Moreover, the partnership will lend money in local currency as they believe that this will present less risk of currency market fluctuations. In the actual financial meltdown, this partnership should give a helpful hand to worldwide MFIs who will profit from this partnership, an estimated of 691, 500 micro-entrepreneurs will benefit the loans provided by these MFIs.

The Partners

Grameen Foundation is "global non-profit organization that combines microfinance, technology, and innovation to empower the world's poorest people to escape poverty. It has established a global network of 46 partners in 25 countries that has impacted an estimated 18 million lives in Asia, Africa, the Americas, and the Middle East. Grameen Foundation was founded by Alex Counts, who began his work in microfinance with Grameen Bank founder and Nobel Peace Prize recipient Dr. Muhammad Yunus."

USAID is an independent federal government agency that provides foreign assistance worldwide. "USAID has been the principal U.S. agency to extend assistance to countries recovering from disaster, trying to escape poverty, and engaging in democratic reforms."

To consult the Press Release

Pro Mujer launches microfinance-health initiative with PATH and Global Partnerships

A remarkable microfinance and health initiative in Latin America has been launched recently by three non-profits organizations: Global Partnerships, PATH and Pro Mujer. As they mentioned in their Q&A : “the organizations will jointly address key health challenges in Latin America by developing a microfinance model for expanding access to essential, low-cost health solutions that are financially sustainable over the long term.”

Global Partnerships (GB), a Seattle-based organization, provides support to microfinance institutions in Latin America. GB partners with microfinance institutions working especially for women and rural poor. PATH, also a Seattle-based organization, works toward making sure that healthcare and health technologies are accessible worldwide, especially in the most needed area. Pro Mujer is “an international women’s development and microfinance organization that alleviates poverty in Latin America by providing financial services, healthcare and training to poor women entrepreneurs.”

This initiative will start this month in Nicaragua as a model to be expanded throughout Latin America and will take place in two phases. The first phase will work toward getting a financially sustainable healthcare strategy, while the second phase will be a pilot project to demonstrate how microfinance organizations can be a powerful tool to promote primary and preventive healthcare services in a financially sustainable way. As we know, Pro Mujer already provides microfinance services, healthcare and training, but through these partnerships they will take advantage of the health expertise of PATH and also get financial support from PATH and GB to "develop a sustainable funding stream for integrated health services and education that are offered through the microfinance platform."

For more information, please read the Press Release

End Poverty all Together!

For its fourth year Stand Up and Take Action will take place worldwide this year October 16 to 18 to advocate the leaders of the planet and request them to keep their promises to eradicate poverty and to carry out the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

MDGs were established “in September 2000, building upon a decade of major United Nations conferences and summits, world leaders came together at United Nations Headquarters in New York to adopt the United Nations Millennium Declaration, committing their nations to a new global partnership to reduce extreme poverty and setting out a series of time-bound targets - with a deadline of 2015 - that have become known as the Millennium Development Goals.” (United Nations Millennium Development Goals)

Stand Up and Take Action is co-organized by the UN Millennium Campaign and the Global Call to Action Against Poverty (GCAP). The inception of UN Millennium Campaign was launched with the signatures of the 189 world leaders onto the Millennium Declaration and agreed to meet the MDGs. GCAP is a grouping of various organizations from the civil society calling the leaders to end poverty and inequality around the world.

Visit Stand Up 2009 and Take Action: be part of the movement to end poverty! You will find on the Website information about events happening all around the world, success stories and information on how to create your own events or join one!