Goal Keeper
On an autumn day in September 2000, leaders from 189 countries met at the United Nations in New York to endorse the Millennium Declaration, a commitment to work together to build a world with less poverty, hunger, inequality and disease. From the declaration, eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) were set, due for completion by 2015. Achievement of these goals was expected to require great efforts from many players, and since then, microfinance has been doing its part to see the goals realised. Here’s how.
Goal 1
End extreme poverty and hunger
- Small loans enable people in poverty to start businesses and provide for their families. Many go on to employ others, causing a ripple effect that can lift whole communities out of poverty.
- The 2009 MDG Report observes that employment opportunities for women in South Asia (where Opportunity International Australia works) are particularly low. Rising unemployment – a result of the global economic crisis – has added to this problem. Job creation is low but microfinance provides an alternative means for the unemployed and underemployed to earn an income and support their families.
- Savings and insurance safeguard against triggers of poverty such as illness and emergencies, which otherwise would be disastrous for the poor.
- In South Asia, a region with the highest proportion of underweight children under five (48% in 2007), innovations such as the ‘cashless loan’ from TLM (Opportunity Australia’s partner in West Timor) combat hunger by lending food to poor families during low periods when there is little to eat.
“Rather than retreat, now is the time to accelerate progress towards the Millennium Development Goals… Nothing less than the viability of our planet and the future of humanity are at stake.”
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon
Goal 2
Achieve universal primary education
- Many microfinance clients use their profits to pay for their children’s education. Surveys show that children of microfinance clients are much more likely to attend school than those without access to financial services.
- Educational loans such as that offered by our partner TSPI in the Philippines provide poor families with lump sums to help keep their children in school or university.
Goal 3
Promote gender equality and empower women
- 85% of Opportunity International clients are female. Women, often denied opportunities elsewhere, use loans to build their businesses, income and assets.
- Microfinance empowers women, increasing their confidence and independence. Many go on to become community leaders with as much influence as the men in their communities.
Goals 4 & 5 & 6
Reduce child mortality, improve maternal health and combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases
- By facilitating a larger and more stable income, microfinance leads to better nutrition, safer living conditions and increased preventative healthcare.
- Many microfinance providers also educate clients on immunisations, pre-natal and post-natal care and diseases such as HIV/AIDS. Our partner Samhita regularly holds health seminars in villages in Rewa, India – a state with some of the worst maternal health and infant mortality outcomes in the country.
- Health insurance helps families survive the shock and expenses that can accompany illness.
- With a regular income, clients can treat health issues quickly rather than getting increasingly sick as they struggle to save for a doctor’s visit.
Goal 7
Ensure environmental sustainability
- One aim of Goal 7 is to halve the proportion of people living without access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation. WaterHope, an initiative of TSPI in the Philippines, is working to bring clean water to a community in Manila.
- Another aim is to improve the lives of 100 million slum dwellers by 2020. Our partner ASKI is offering an alternative to slum dwellers in the Philippines by providing them with housing loans to help them secure adequate accommodation. ASKI also encourages its clients to take care of the environment with ‘Clean and Green’ programs that plant trees and maintain the cleanliness of villages.
* Goal 8 refers to increased coordination between national and international institutions in pursuit of more effective paths to development.
Sources: The UN Millennium Development Goals Report 2009, UN Millennium Campaign, CGAP