|
|
|
|
 |
|
UNITED NATIONS CAPITAL DEVELOPMENT FUND Microfinance |
Issue 1 / January - February 2004 |
|
|
News | Helping Donors Make a Difference The Special Unit for Microfinance at UNCDF, in partnership with CGAP held the first donor training course entitled, "Financial Services for the Poor: How Donors Can Make a Difference" in Sarajevo, Bosnia & Herzegovina from 22 September to 26 September. The five-day training course reached out to consortium member donors, UN agencies, and policy makers, most of them with little or no microfinance experience, with an aim of providing donor staff "with an understanding of best practice and the tools available to support sustainable financial systems for the poor." With 33 participants mostly from Eastern Europe though other developing countries were also were also well represented, the group reflected diverse backgrounds and differing levels of experience adding to the lively debate over the 5-day programme. The workshop operates as part of an effort to alter the current financial sector landscape where only very few institutions provide poor and low-income people with a range of financial products and services on a sustainable basis. Often times, people are given few or no options forcing them to use high-risk financial mechanisms that can result in significant losses. Without access to savings services, one does not have the power to prioritize and make the choices that best serve the needs of the moment while thinking of the future at same time. The course is aimed at helping donors mitigate this gap in provision of services and create conditions favorable for a more inclusive financial sector. It is also highly participatory and based on case studies where participants apply the learned techniques step-by-step to analyze, decide on, design, and monitor a microfinance investment. Acknowledging the significant need and unmet demand for secure and sustainable credit and savings instruments, among the elements of microfinance, the course covered topics including the importance of diversified products, state regulatory frameworks, and stimulating the growth of institutions that serve poor people. After four days of examining the vision of microfinance, the obstacles to effective practices, and mechanisms for overcoming them, participants visited best practice microfinance institutions as well as commercial banks in Bosnia & Herzegovina and were able to interface with both staff and clients. Among the institutions visited were Sunrise, Raiffeisen Bank, EKI, LOK, and Women for Women International. Stephen Rodrigues, a Poverty Reduction Specialist with UNDP in Jamaica, who claimed limited knowledge of the microfinance sector before the training, said that the program provided "a good opportunity to seriously engage some of the broader issues involved in providing financial services - not just credit -- to the poor." Reflecting on the course after his week in Sarajevo, Stephen comments, that the course refuted the "tradition perception that it is not profitable to serve the poor." A second course in the series was held in Kenya 10 - 14 November 2003. Four courses are planned for 2004. More information is available at: http://www.cgap.org/direct/special/Training.html |
