WorldView Magazine - Summer 2009 - (Page 17)

Microfinance A “GREEN” COMMUNITY RISING The microfinance industry should look to East Africa for growth and innovative ideas by Eliza Kelly alking through the Mathari Valley in Nairobi, Kenya, one can see the intense poverty that plagues millions of people in the developing world. Upon entering, three-story stone dwellings line the mud streets with a gully of sludge and filth running down the center. As you walk further towards the river, the stone buildings give way to corrugated tin shanties with narrow walkways and always the same rivulet of waste, an open sewer flowing towards the river. The smell can make one gag but the thick cloud of flies makes you wary of opening your mouth too much. People spend their lives living in Mathari. It’s hard to escape when you don’t have a consistent source of income or access to financial services to improve your life. Unfortunately, slums like Mathari aren’t uncommon in the developing world. Nearly one half of the world’s population lives on $2 a day or less and the majority of these poor are women and children. Nowhere is this poverty more striking than in Africa. Of the 762 million people living in SubSaharan Africa, more than 556 million live on $2 a day or less. In Kenya, one W of the world’s poorest countries, over 58% of the population lives on less than $2 a day. This leaves millions of Africans living in poverty without the tools to improve their situation. Microfinance, the practice of giving small loans to the poor, emerged in the 1970s when Muhammed Yunus began loaning money to basket weavers in Bangladesh. In 1983, he established The Grameen Bank. Since then, microfinance has proven to be one of the most sustainable and effective tools in the fight against global poverty. Today, microfinance institutions (MFIs) are operating in 100 countries around the globe and in January of this year, the Microcredit Summit Campaign report announced that 150 million of the poorest families now have access to microfinance worldwide. While this accomplishment is a sign of how far microcredit has come, there are far too many people who still do not have access to these financial services. Unitus, an international nonprofit based in Seattle, works to increase access to microcredit by partnering with high-potential MFIs who are focused on the truly poor. After an intensive due-diligence and selection process, Unitus by Denise Hughes Unitus works with an MFI to build capacity and remove barriers to growth through a combination of capital infusion and organizational consulting. The result shows the model works Unitus partners are growing 7 times faster than their industry peers. In addition to accelerating growth, Unitus looks for partners who are offering innovative products and services that suit the needs of clients, helping them maximize their success. Today, in addition to microloans, many MFIs offer auxiliary products and services including savings and home and health insurance that empower the world’s poor to improve their lives. While Bangladesh was the birthplace of microcredit, Kenya is where the world needs to look to for the next step in microfinance innovation. BUILDING A GREEN COMMUNITY Jamii Bora Trust, a Unitus partner, was started in 1999 by Ingrid Munro, then head of the African Housing Fund. Fifty beggars and slum dwellers asked Munro to help them improve their lives. Since then, a once-small savings match program has grown into Unitus by Denise Hughes Kaputei housing under construction. View of Kibera, Kenya. WorldView 1

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of WorldView Magazine - Summer 2009

WorldView Magazine - Summer 2009
Contents
More Peace Corps Campaign: Better and Bolder!
Africa Rural Connect
Readers Write
You Too Can Be Bill Gates
Taking Peace Corps Back into the Field
Come for the Information, Stay for the Dancing
A “Green” Community Rising
Microfinance Pioneer Receives 2009 Shriver Award
The Colombia Project
A Voice for the Unheard
Hear Ye, Hear Ye: Microfinance Podcasts
Selected Microfinance Resources
Bicycle! Bamenda! Orange!
Luck and Fame
A Step in the Right Direction
Bringing What She Loves
Letter from Botswana: First Tongues of the Kalahari
Letter from Tanzania: Homo Sapien in Africa
In the Beginning (There Was John)
The Peace Corps Community Making a Difference
Community News
Advertiser Index

WorldView Magazine - Summer 2009

https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/worldview/fall09
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/worldview/summer09
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/worldview/spring08
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/worldview/winter07
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/worldview/fall07
https://www.nxtbookmedia.com