Mary Ellen Iskenderian, Chief Executive of Women’s World Banking (WWB), an organization that provides technical and advisory services to its network of microfinance institutions (MFIs), wrote an article which appeared on the Huffington Post website urging MFIs to stay true to their mission of serving the poor.
Citing a recent study released by the WWB [4], the author laments that the microfinance industry is focusing less on women than it once did. Ms Iskenderian suggests that by choosing “investors who are passionate about preserving the mission”, MFIs would be able to stay focused on their social mission of serving underprivileged groups. She also proposed that MFIs offer services such as savings and insurance in addition to microcredit, because that would “give women the ability to build assets and move toward having control over their economic well-being”.
About Women’s World Banking (WWB)
Women’s World Banking (WWB) is an organization that provides technical and advisory services to its network of microfinance institutions (MFIs). As of February 26, 2010, WWB has 40 members working in 28 countries and serves 20 million microentrepreneurs. It was founded in 1976, and it is based in New York. Women’s World Banking seeks to alleviate global poverty by expanding the economic assets, participation and power of the poor, especially women.
About Grameen Bank:
Grameen Bank is a Bangladeshi microfinance institution that provides collateral-free loans to poor entrepreneurs in rural areas. It was founded in the late 1970’s by Mohammed Yunus, who, along with Grameen Bank, won the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize for his work in developing the concept of microfinance. As of February 2010, it reports 8 million borrowers, 97 percent of whom are women. With 2,563 branches, Grameen Bank provides services to 81,343 villages. Grameen Bank has the equivalent of USD 1.2 billion in assets as of February 2010.
By Trevor Kwong, Research Assistant
Sources and Additional Resources:
[1] Source Article: Huffington Post: Avoiding “Mission Drift”: Do Microfinance Institutions Stop Serving Their Core Mission When Seeking Profit?
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mary-ellen-iskenderian/avoiding-mission-drift-do_b_738311.html
[2] MicroCapital Universe: Grameen Bank:
https://www.microcapital.org/microfinanceuniverse/tiki-index.php?page=Grameen+Bank
[3] MicroCapital Universe: Women’s World Banking (WWB):
https://www.microcapital.org/microfinanceuniverse/tiki-index.php?page=Women’s+World+Banking+(WWB)
[4] Women’s World Banking: Stemming the Tide of Mission Drift: Microfinance Transformations and the Double Bottom Line
http://www.swwb.org/stemming-the-tide-of-mission-drift
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