From the European Microfinance Platform (e-MFP): Fonkoze has won the €100,000 prize awarded by the Directorate for Development Cooperation and Humanitarian Affairs of the Luxembourg Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs.
Three financial service providers from the South were in the running to receive the 2021 European Microfinance Award, which focused this year on projects that promote access for vulnerable populations to high-quality healthcare at an affordable price.
Under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, access to healthcare is one of the fundamental human rights, alongside the right to education, the right to work and the right for families and children to be protected. Yet, although access to healthcare is a fundamental universal right, it is often conditional on household income and the quality of the healthcare available. Paying for healthcare represents a greater financial risk for households with insecure and volatile incomes in low-income countries.
As a result of being closer to its customers and the socio-economic challenges they face, the inclusive finance sector plays a key role in helping them to deal with health-related financial shocks.
Fonkoze, winner of the 2021 European Microfinance Award, addresses these challenges in Haiti through Boutik Santé, a health screening and education training initiative for customers. Infant mortality rates in Haiti are some of the highest in the world, less than a quarter of households have adequate sanitation and access to all forms of healthcare remains very low. The Haitian microfinance institution, via its nonprofit foundation, provides complementary support to its customers who live in remote regions through the Boutik Santé network. Doctors and public health experts train nurses, who in turn train Fonkoze’s customers, including community health entrepreneurs. They are appointed to carry out basic health screenings in their Boutik Santé franchise, run health education sessions and offer health and hygiene products.
In the current global health environment, access to healthcare is all the more crucial. Healthcare, like inclusive finance, is a means of tackling poverty and improving quality of life, as highlighted by HRH the Grand Duchess of Luxembourg, Chair of the Award’s High Jury: “In the context of the current pandemic, guaranteeing access to affordable good quality health care to the most vulnerable is even more crucial. It is encouraging to see that microfinance is helping to find appropriate solutions for people in need while guaranteeing quality education for children, and offering employment prospects to young people.”
For his part, what caught the attention of Franz Fayot, Minister for Cooperation and Humanitarian Affairs in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, and another member of the High Jury, was “If traditional insurers are reluctant to extend healthcare coverage to the people in need, we need projects promoting innovative solutions for improving access to health services. The financially excluded do not only need better access to health care, but also the ability to pay for it!”
In Fonkoze, the European Microfinance Award recognises the increasingly innovative nature of the sector. This award from the Directorate for Development Cooperation and Humanitarian Affairs of the Luxembourg Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs was presented at a ceremony attended by Her Royal Highness.
This feature is part of a sponsored series on European Microfinance Week 2021, which is held annually by e-MFP. The conference concludes on November 19. MicroCapital has been engaged to promote and report on the conference each year since 2012.
Additional Resources
European Microfinance Platform (e-MFP) homepage
https://www.e-mfp.eu/
MicroCapital coverage of the ongoing and past European Microfinance Weeks, including the European Microfinance Award
https://www.microcapital.org/category/european-microfinance-week/
Similar Posts:
- SPECIAL REPORT: Christoph Pausch on the European Microfinance Award 2023 – Inclusive Finance for Food Security & Nutrition
- SPECIAL REPORT: Banco FIE of Bolivia Takes $100k “Financial Inclusion that Works for Women” European Microfinance Award 2022
- SPECIAL REPORT: Fortune Credit of Kenya, Fundación Génesis Empresarial of Guatemala, Yikri of Burkina Faso Are Finalists for European Microfinance Award 2023 on Inclusive Finance for Food Security & Nutrition
- SPECIAL REPORT: Yikri of Burkina Faso Wins $110k European Microfinance Award for Progress Toward Food Security #EMW2023
- SPECIAL REPORT: European Microfinance Week Is Almost Here!
