Dear friends,
Welcome to the inaugural issue of Grameen Foundation USA's
e-newsletter. Our goal is to keep you up-to-date on what we are
doing to reduce global poverty through microfinance; share
information about significant advances in the field; and
introduce you to those whose lives have been changed by
microfinance.
In this first issue, we are especially excited to announce
the GFUSA Growth Guarantees program, a creative financing
strategy that will greatly increase funding available to
poverty-focused MFIs worldwide, and their capacity to help more
poor people. We also bring news from Southeast Asia, where we
are building the technical infrastructure to bring microfinance
services to poor tsunami survivors.
Across the world, more and more people are recognizing the
needs of the world's poorest, and the power of microfinance to
change lives. Thank you for helping to spread the word about our
work. Your voice is very important to us and we welcome
your feedback on our newsletter. We greatly appreciate your
support.
Sincerely,
Alex Counts
President, Grameen Foundation USA
GFUSA Announces Loan Guarantee Program of
up to $50 million at the Clinton Global Initiative
"GFUSA's Growth Guarantees, when fully realized, will empower
millions of very poor women and their families to start their
journey of hope -- escape from poverty." - GFUSA President Alex
Counts
The GFUSA Growth Guarantees program, backed by private
donor-guarantors and developed with Citigroup, was unveiled at
the inaugural meeting of the Clinton Global Initiative, on
September 16 in New York City. The anticipated $50 million
program could guarantee up to US$300 million for poverty-focused
microfinance institutions to lend to poor people around the
world to start, sustain or grow very small, self-sustaining
businesses.
Former president Clinton featured this innovative initiative
as a significant commitment and a pragmatic solution to global
poverty, one of the world's most pressing problems. GFUSA has
secured commitments for more than half of the program's $50
million target. The first closing is near and GFUSA seeks to
reach its target within the next 12 months.
Learn
more about GFUSA Growth Guarantees >
Dieula Calixte, Dominican Republic:
Moving Beyond the Batey
Business: Snack vendor
Client of GFUSA partner Esperanza International
Old rail cars full of sugarcane stand at the entrance to
Dieula Calixte's street, pausing on their way to the refinery.
Usually, the hard-working, low-paid workers who harvest the cane
live in bateys -- old, run-down sugarcane plantation
towns where opportunity is scarce.
When Dieula first came to the Dominican Republic from Haiti,
she lived in a batey with her sister Rosa; they supported
themselves through agricultural work, but Dieula was often ill
and could not work. Sugarcane was always central to their lives,
but today Dieula and her sister have found their own paths with
microfinance services from GFUSA partner Esperanza
International.
Read
more about Dieula Calixte >
Technology and Microfinance Aid Tsunami
Survivors
In the wake of the Asian tsunami, and after discussions with
GFUSA partners in the affected area, a GFUSA team found that
microfinance could help survivors rebuild their shattered lives
and economy. Joined by local people and organizations, GFUSA
embarked on a program to help build microfinance institutions
(MFIs) in the region, particularly in the area hardest-hit --
Aceh, Indonesia.
GFUSA is providing on-the-ground support for two new MFI
partners, YKBS and YAMIDA, both of whom have microfinance
experience in Indonesia. These partners are now offering
Grameen-style microfinance to help tsunami survivors chart their
recovery, a first for the people of Aceh.
This is also the first time technology will be used to
computerize microfinance operations in the Aceh region. Already
the team has designed robust systems to overcome problems of
spotty electricity and communications in Aceh, and they are now
adapting the MIS software to meet the cultural customs and
regulatory requirements of the area.
Subscribers: Thank you for responding
We asked, and you answered -- enthusiastically. To make this
e-newsletter more valuable and useful to you, we surveyed our
burgeoning list of subscribers. Hundreds of you responded. We
found that:
- Half of you are under 35.
- Half of you live outside the US.
- Most of you -- largely because of professional ties -- are
quite knowledgeable about microfinance.
- Your interests span Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa and Latin
America.
Overall, your responses point to the strong demand for
information on how microfinance institutions are established and
run. Many of you were also interested in learning more about
using technology in microfinance, and the potential of capital
markets as a financial resource for the industry. There was also
significant interest in stories on microfinance clients. In
future editions of the GFUSA e-newsletter, we will cover these
and other issues. But your feedback cannot end here. We
encourage you to share your thoughts about the e-newsletter and
suggest articles. And, please, share our newsletter with others
who are concerned about reducing global poverty.
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