Basic facts about Microfinance-UNCDF (dgAlert / UNCDF)

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dgAlert for Microfinance

http://topics.developmentgateway.org/microfinance/rc/ItemDetail.do?itemId=1100938

UNCDF (United Nations Capital Development Fund

http://www.uncdf.org/english/microfinance/facts.php

Basic facts about Microfinance-UNCDF

“Comprehensive impact studies have demonstrated that: (i) microfinance helps very poor households meet basic needs and protect against risks; (ii) the use of financial services by low-income households is associated with improvements in household economic welfare and enterprise stability or growth; (iii) by supporting women’s economic participation, microfinance helps to empower women, thus promoting gender-equity and improving household well-being; (iv) for almost all significant impacts, the magnitude of impact is positively related to the length of time that clients have been in the programme. The demand for microfinance services is largely unmet. Estimates of the global demand ranges from 400 to 500 million households of which only around 30 million are reported to have access to sustainable microfinance services in 2002. Although many poor and low-income people do not yet have access to financial services, the number of customers that use microfinance, has grown between 25 and 30 percent annually over the past five years.”UNCDF