Accessing finance: Microfinance turns India’s rural women into budding entrepreneurs
ANNIE BANERJI, of Thomson Reuters Foundation, reports on how, in the absence of banks, rural credit schemes are helping women access formal financing and reducing their reliance on loan sharks…
My Mission: When women keep raising a village
BETHANY CLIFF, who works in church engagement and communication at Baptist World Aid Australia, reflects on her last visit to a small village in Cambodia and how that impacted her life…
Tiny loans lead to bigger debts, land losses in Cambodia, says report
Bangkok, ThailandThomson Reuters Foundation The rapid rise of tiny loans aimed at helping poor Cambodians has led to more debt, with many borrowers forced to sell land, migrate or put their children to work, human rights groups said on Wednesday. The South-East Asian nation has about 2.4 million borrowers with $US5.4 billion in outstanding microloans, […]
Microfinance an important tool to help alleviate poverty but two billion still struggle to survive, says Opportunity International Australia head
Microfinance has been an important tool in halving the number of people living in poverty over the past 20 years but there are still some two billion people living on less than $US3.20 a day, according Meredith Scott, CEO of microfinance and development organisation Opportunity International. In comments made to mark the start of Anti-Poverty Week […]
THE INTERVIEW: MEREDITH SCOTT, CEO OF OPPORTUNITY INTERNATIONAL AUSTRALIA
Meredith Scott is the new chief executive officer of international development organisation Opportunity International Australia. She talks with DAVID ADAMS about what’s surprised her about the new job, the organisation’s new “tagline”, and how her faith inspires her to help others…
Microfinance could help African cities solve housing crisis, say experts
Thomson Reuters Foundation Granting small loans to help low earners in Africa’s rapidly growing cities build their own homes could help solve a looming housing crisis, experts said on Thursday. About 40 per cent of Africa’s one billion people already live in towns and cities and the World Bank predicts the urban population will double […]
THE INTERVIEW: NATHAN BYRD, OF OPPORTUNITY INTERNATIONAL, TALKS ABOUT HOW TO EMPOWER WOMEN IN EDUCATION
Empowering women in education means more than just getting girls into schools as Nathan Byrd, head of global programs at microfinance and development organisation Opportunity International, explains to DAVID ADAMS in an interview to mark International Women’s Day…
DEVELOPMENT SPECIAL: THE KEY ROLE WOMEN PLAY IN LIFTING THEIR FAMILIES OUT OF POVERTY IN THE PHILIPPINES
In the last of a series of articles about the work of microfinance organisation Opportunity International Australia and its partner agency ASKI in The Philippines, DAVID ADAMS looks at why women play such a key role in helping lift their families and communities out of poverty…
DEVELOPMENT SPECIAL: THE GROWING TREND OF TAILORING SOLUTIONS TO MEET THE NEEDS OF THOSE LIVING IN POVERTY
In the second in a special series on the work of Opportunity International Australia and its partner agencies in the Philippines, DAVID ADAMS reports on the changing nature and new innovations in the world of microfinance…
DEVELOPMENT SPECIAL: HOW MICROFINANCE IS HELPING TO CHANGE LIVES IN THE PHILIPPINES
In the first of a series looking at the work of Christian microfinance organisation Opportunity International Australia and its partner agency ASKI in The Philippines, DAVID ADAMS reports on how small loans are changing lives…