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BackgrounderMicro-Credit : Background & Perspective
More than 10,000 micro-lending organizations are today providing loans to 25 million poor people throughout the world, most of them women. The number of these organisations grew dramatically during the 1990s, spurred by the notion of 'self-help' and a faith in the creditworthiness and entrepreneurial potential of the poor. But is the current euphoria over micro-credit missing some fundamental questions? Does micro-credit really reach the poorest? Does it really empower women? More... Banking on poor women: Grameen BankBangladesh's Grameen Bank is credited with pioneering the micro-credit movement all over the developing world. The Bank brought credit to the poor, women and illiterate, creating a methodology and an institution around the financial needs of the poor More... International Year of Micro-credit, 2005Next year, the UN, governments, civil society and the private sector join hands to raise the profile and build the capacity of the micro-credit and micro-finance sectors More... Women's empowerment, or a debt trap?Micro lending does create a space for women. But it does not change macro structures or provide a transformative framework, says a women's group called Nirantar More... 'Micro-credit improves cash flow but doesn't create wealth'NGOs, banks and corporations have benefited from micro-credit at the cost of the poor, says development analyst Dr Sudhirendar Sharma More... Further reading |
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