MICROCAPITAL.ORG PAPER WRAP-UP: Acute Poverty Alleviation Through Women’s Targeting by Micro nance Programs, by Alexandra Dobra

Written by Alexandra Dobra, published in March 2009 by the Munich Personal RePEc Archive, 8 pages, available at: http://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/16874/1/MPRA_paper_16874.pdf

This paper, by Alexandra Dobra of the University of York Department of Politics, is a literature review that attempts to address the merits of female-targeted microfinance [1]. In addition to microfinance, Ms. Dobra has also done research on immigration in developed countries [1,2]. The paper is published by the Munich Personal RePEc Archive, an archive that houses economics papers for authors who want their work to be freely available [3].

Firstly, the author points out that, as of 2005, women are a majority of the poor, making up 70 percent of people in the world living on one dollar per day [4]. She also points out their vulnerability to staying poor due to oppressive “patriarchal norms” [5,6]. She states that although women are “precarious” public economic agents, they tend to have multiple responsibilities in the private sphere, and therefore have “various potentialities for development” [7]. She says it is also important to remember that women tend to spend earned income on the family, thus helping to decrease the household poverty rate of the country. According to the Women’s Entrepreneurship Development Trust Fund, women spend 18 percent of their microfinance income on schooling, 55 percent on medical services and household goods, and 15 percent on clothes [8]. The author also reports a World Bank finding that female loan repayment rates tend to be higher that that of men [9]. The World Bank also shows that gender inequality is a retardant to growth itself [9].

The author also looks to female empowerment as an important effect of microfinance. She states that “access to self-employment” for women does well to “[privilege] self-confidence and the capacity of playing an active role in society.” Additionally, empowerment has been found by the World Bank to have a positive correlation with “indices of development”relating to gender inequality as well as with the Human Development Index, a quality of life measure based on life expectancy, education, adult literacy, gross enrollment, and gross domestic product (GDP) [9]. A study by the Women’s Empowerment Program in Nepal showed 68 percent of credit-afforded women making “familial scheduling, schooling, [and marriage]” decisions [10]. The URWEGO Opportunity Bank of Rwanda showed that credit access led to 68 percent of female clients gaining increased self-respect and 38 percent increasing “notions of enterprise management” [11]. Furthermore, a program in Tanzania from the Women’s Entrepreneurship Development Trust Fund finds increased rights for these economically empowered women to the point where they had more “social prestige” and could “emancipate themselves” [8].

Despite all this, the author still believes there is room for improvement in microfinance as it results to gender. She points to creating microfinance programs that are more sensitive to cultural norms. For instance, it might be important to distinguish between societal gender inequality that is based on “high separation of public/private
sphere [and] low social mobility,” and the type that is more rooted in “gender distinction in the access to resources” [12]. Lastly, the author also believes that strong gender discrimination necessitates democracy on the national level and government “engagement” with the industry.

By Christopher Maggio, Research Assistant

Bibliography
[1] Alexandra Dobra at IDEAS: http://ideas.repec.org/f/pdo217.html
[2] Scholarly article by Alexandra Dobra entitled ‘Principal concerns concentrating on the costs and bene ts of immigration in developed countries’: http://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/16817/1/MPRA_paper_16817.pdf
[3] Munich Personal RePEc Archive: http://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/
[4] Microcredit Summit, 2005. State of the Microcredit Summit Campaign Report 2005, Vol.3, Issue 3 Dec.: http://www.microcreditsummit.org/pubs/reports/socr/2005/SOCR05.pdf
[5] Human Development report 2007/2008: http://hdr.undp.org/en/reports/global/hdr2007-2008/
[6] Baden, S. and Milward, K., 1995. Gender and poverty, BRIDGE Report No 30, Brighton: Institute of
Development Studies. (not available online)
[7] Yunus, M., 2003. Banker to the Poor. New-York: PublicAffairs. (not available online)
[8] Women’s Entrepreneurship Development Trust Fund: http://wedtf.duranpereira.com/who.htm
[9] World Bank, 2001. Engendering Development: Through Gender Equality in Rights, Ressources and Voice-
Summary. Washington, D.C.: World Bank.: http://www-wds.worldbank.org/external/default/WDSContentServer/WDSP/IB/2…
[10] Ashe, J and Parrott, L., 2001. Impact Evaluation of PACT’s Women’s Empowerment Program in Nepal: A
Savings and Literacy Led Alternative to Financial Institution Building, Institute for Sustainable Development
Heller School, Brandeis University and Freedom from Hunger.: http://www.gdrc.org/icm/country/nepal-002.html
[11] World Relief Rwanda, 1999. Impact Assessment of TF UK Clients in the World Relief. Rwanda, URWEGO
Program. (not available online)
[12] Sebro, M., J., 2005. Revealing the Power of Gender Mainstreaming: Enhancing Development Effectiveness of Non-governmental Organizations in Africa, InterAction’s Commission on the Advancement of Women. (not available online)

Similar Posts: