The International Alliance for Women


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Microenterprise Development Program

For more information about The International Alliance for Women and its Microenterprise Development Program, please click here for the Program brochure or call (866) 533-8429 or (720) 427-3348.

To make a Village bank donation click here

ACCESS TO CREDIT FOR WOMEN IN POVERTY

WOMEN AND THE WORLD ECONOMY: HOPE FOR THE FUTURE

• Half the world's population lives on less than $2 a day. 1.8 billion of these people live on less than $1 a day, 70 percent of them are women.

• 340 million women around the world are not expected to survive to age 40.

• 35,000 children die each day of preventable causes.

• 50-60% of the workforce in developing countries works in the informal sector, with women comprising the overwhelming majority of that workforce. About 96% of India’s working women are in the informal sector.

• Women’s micro businesses have very limited access to formal financial services. Most of them rely on predatory moneylenders.

• Official microfinance organizations are currently only reaching 5-8 percent of the women who need a microloan.

Why is TIAW’s Microenterprise Development Program Necessary?
The International Alliance for Women (TIAW) salutes the emerging Microfinance Industry for making small loans available to impoverished women who need working capital to start or expand a business. Because collateral is a difficult requirement for a population largely denied property rights, traditional lending sources have been unavailable to most of these women. Access to market-based loans has dramatically improved economic opportunities for women engaged in microenterprises around the world. They now have an alternative to unofficial moneylenders who charge usurious interest rates of 5 to 20 percent a day.
What is the Purpose of the Program?
The alternative models of credit pioneered by the Microfinance Industry represent a major breakthrough for millions of women who survive on less than $2 a day. Innovative Village Bank and other collateral-free programs have consistently experienced repayment rates of more than 98%, far above the average repayment rates experienced by most commercial lending institutions. TIAW's Microenterprise Development Program was developed to address the capital and capacity constraints currently limiting growth in the Microfinance Industry.

Our Vision.
Since the founding of TIAW’s Microenterprise Development Program in 2000, we have envisioned women coming together to create a more inclusive world economy where everyone has an opportunity to succeed. To accomplish this, TIAW has become an international force behind the Microfinance Industry.

One of TIAW’s major objectives is to help commercialize the Microfinance Industry so it can exponentially increase the capital available for loans, and thus the number of women who have access to credit. Access to business loans is helping to:

• Increase women’s income levels and control over their income, leading to economic independence.

• Enhance women’s contributions to household income and participation in household decisions.

• Improve women’s self-esteem in their households and communities.

• Create pathways to networks and markets, providing access to information and possibilities for developing women’s economic, social and political roles.

Our Mission.
To help alleviate poverty and empower women through financial independence by raising awareness of and support for Microenterprise Development.

What is the goal of the program?
To support the commercial development of the Microfinance Industry so it can access capital markets for loan funds, significantly expanding the number of women it can serve.

We will accomplish our goal by providing business, financial, and management assistance to microfinance organizations that want to become commercially viable.

How will the program be implemented?
Financial Assistance
• Village Bank adoptions

Capacity Building and Management Assistance
• Loaned executives • Executive exchanges • Internships • Board participation • Advocacy • Alliances

What are the Program’s Results to Date?
• Interviewed world leaders in microfinance as part of a research project funded by the Center for the Advanced Study of Leadership.

• Conducted due diligence on the premier microfinance organizations in the world to select loan partners in the field.

• Partnered with 12 Microfinance Institutions, providing loans to thousands of women around the world.

• Raised funds for 60 Village Banks in Afghanistan, Bolivia, Chile, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Ecuador, Ghana, Guatemala, Honduras, India, Liberia, Malawi, Mexico, Nicaragua, Pakistan, Peru, Philippines, Senegal, South Africa, Tanzania, Thailand, and Uganda.

• Funded a Microenterprise and Scholarship Program for 100 young women in Liberia, West Africa.

• Recruited and sponsored graduate students to help oversee TIAW’s Central American and Mexican Village Bank Programs.

• Provided expertise to advance a more enabling policy environment for microfinance through participation in the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum. Instrumental in establishing a permanent Microenterprise group within APEC, as well as making microenterprise issues a major focus at 12 international meetings in Mexico, Thailand, and Chile during 2002, 2003, and 2004.

• Provided technical assistance to Microfinance Organizations to build their capacity.

• Participated on Boards of Directors for Microfinance Organizations.

• Recruited TIAW members for positions in the Microfinance Industry.

• Made presentations to the World Future Society, the Asia Pacific Economic Forum, TIAW conferences and business networks advocating Microenterprise as a tool for the economic empowerment of women.

• Briefed CEOs and other members of the business community to build a public-private partnership for microenterprise financing and development.

• Partnered with the Women Leader’s Network to advance Microfinance with high level government and business officials around the world.