The NGO Stichting Bakens Verzet (“Another Way”) of the Netherlands promotes a Model for self-financing, ecological, sustainable, local integrated development projects for the world’s poor. This work is in the public domain. It can be accessed, downloaded from website www.flowman.nl and used free of charge. The website has been further enriched by a series of four Powerpoint® Presentations in English and French which can be directly accessed from the homepage.The first presentation www.flo more...

'This paper discusses migrant remittances in the Sri Lankan context, specifically in relation to Hatton National Bank’s (HNB) microfinance program and the use of technology. Currently outreach in microfinance is expanding as a result of migrant remittances, improved technologies and cheaper services. HNB’s innovative remittance e-product, Money2Home, is one such product outlined and other future development areas are considered.'

This research report presents the findings of an Asia-Pacific study to investigate the potential for remittance-linked financial services to contribute to household well-being and economic development. The six case study countries covered by the study are Fiji, Samoa, Indonesia, the Philippines, Sri Lanka and Timor Leste.

This paper focuses on smaller banks or microfinance institutions that face a much higher cost-of-service delivery because of the smaller transaction values they handle and the likely more remote and dispersed location of at least some of their customers. The opportunity seems particularly great for them, but implementation challenges also loom larger because of their small scale.

This Occasional Paper provides insight and guidance on the various ownership-related issues that an NGO MFI may face when transforming into a for-profit institution. It addresses topics such as (i) possible restrictions on the transfer of assets (including grant funds) by the NGO to the transformed institution, (ii) legal limits on an NGO's ownership of the transformed institution, (iii) the issuance of shares in the transformed institution to management, employees and other stakeholders and (iv more...

A summary of principles from World education Australia recognized as good practice in delivering microfinance services.

A wide variety of methods have been used to reach these low-income communities with appropriate and affordable services, reflecting the diversity of contexts and environments in which these services are provided.

While there are no specific methods which are appropriate in every context, these principles are common to the range of institutions involved in the delivery of more...

Grameen Foundation CEO Alex Counts outlines a new vision of microfinance as a platform, not a product; one that relies on high volumes, not high margins, and that uses limits on private benefit, holistic performance standards, and third-party certification.

Counts redefines the dichotomy between commercial microfinance and pro-poor microfinance to propose a new model that, he argues, could make microfinance both more relevant to the world's poor and more profitable in the long term.

He als more...

Ana María Blanco de Avedaño is a mother of four daughters who lives in Bogotá, Colombia. In 1988, she got a job as a 'house mother' with the Colombian Institute of Family Well-Being and started a kindergarten and daycare center. In 1993, she decided to move the preschool into her home, but she had no money to pay for the remodeling that was needed or to buy furniture for the children. At this time she heard about WWB affiliate CMM-Colombia. Based in Bogotá, CMM-Colombia has more than 47,000 more...

In a country where 50 million households live in poverty and have limited access to financial services, self help groups (SHGs) are servicing more than 33 million members and have become the dominant model of microfinance.
CGAP's new two-part study examines the financial viability of SHGs in India and proposes a methodology for designing SHG programs to ensure their sustainability. Nine strong SHG programs demonstrate the potential of the model when it is well executed.

The short descriptions of the businesses of Srijan Finalists. Sign up on http://indiadevelopmentgateway.com for executive summaries.