Going it alone: Microfinance in India
Microfinance in India has come under significant scrutiny in recent months, causing a number of challenges for all involved – microfinance institutions, banks and the government. But where do the poor sit in all of this? Read more here.
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More than loans
Small loans are core to microfinance – giving people a tool to start a business and work their way out of poverty. But microfinance is about more than just credit.Microfinance involves providing access to all kinds of financial services: loans, savings accounts, money transfers and insurance, often alongside non-financial services such as business training.With regular banking services, people living in poverty are offered the hand up they need to break that cycle – making the ‘unbankable’ bankable. Read more here.
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A letter from David Bussau
In 2011, the Opportunity International Network marks its 40th anniversary. It is the organisation that was born out of the first small loans the founders personally gave out back in the 1970s. My first loan was to a rice farmer called Ketut Suwiria. He and his wife had been struggling in poverty for many years. I loaned him $50 – not a lot. But he and his wife used the money to buy a sewing machine so they could start producing garments. Six months later, Ketut had employed someone else to help sew the pieces. Read more here.
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Who, what, where
On 8 March, Opportunity joined with six other development organisations to mark 100 years of International Women’s Day with The Purse Project. More
Opportunity was pleased to be recognised as the runner-up of the revenue $5 to $20m category in the 2010 PwC Transparency Awards for the quality and transparency of our reporting. More
Did you know that if 10% of Australians donated $5 a week through workplace giving, $260 million would flow to community organisations making a difference in the world? More
Melbourne Ambassadors, Laura McKenzie and Karen Morley, held a lunch in March that successfully raised more than $52,000 for Opportunity’s India program. More