Development bulletin 

About: Development bulletin is an academic journal. The journal publishes majorly in the area(s): Population & Poverty. It has an ISSN identifier of 1035-1132. Over the lifetime, 173 publications have been published receiving 1109 citations.

Microfinance and womens empowerment: rethinking "best practice."

Abstract: In the 1990s microfinance targeting women became a major focus of gender policy in many donor agencies Literature prepared for the 1997 Microcredit Summit donor policy documents and NGO funding proposals all present an extremely attractive vision of increasing numbers of expanding financially self-sustainable microfinance programmes reaching large numbers of women borrowers Through their contribution to women’s ability to earn an income these programmes are assumed to initiate a series of ‘virtuous spirals’ of economic empowerment increased well-being for women and their families and wider social and political empowerment However more recently as the findings of research and experience have filtered through this initial enthusiasm is being replaced by scepticism Here it is argued that although the widespread complacency about the automatic benefits of microfinance for women needs to be questioned the shortcomings of existing practice should stimulate the search for improvement and innovation rather than provide the basis for cynical inaction It is not microfinance per se which is the problem but the ways in which ‘best practice’ has become dominated by concerns of financial sustainability Innovations in some programmes point to a range of ways in which microfinance’s contribution to empowerment can be increased as part of a broader strategy for gender transformation (excerpt)

Alleviating poverty in remote Indigenous Australia: The role of the hybrid economy

Abstract: While Australia is one of the world’s richest countries in both absolute and per capita terms, many of its Indigenous peoples live in poverty. This paper seeks to elucidate some avenues for addressing poverty in remote Indigenous Australia via appropriate pro-poor growth strategies. While the Development Bulletin focuses on the Asia Pacific region, the case for including remote Indigenous Australia is twofold. First, there are many similarities in the development problems facing Indigenous poor in Australia living within a rich developed state and those in developing Third World nations. Second, Australia’s development discourse and aid practice offshore generally focuses on failed states, problems of governance and policy failure, while conveniently ignoring economic development problems at home.

Reflections on microfinance and womens empowerment.

Abstract: Microfinance programmes for women are increasingly seen by development agencies as an effective poverty alleviation intervention with a positive impact on economic growth and a number of social development indicators High repayment rates are interpreted to mean that women are using loans productively and controlling credit It is widely assumed that there is a clear and direct relationship between access to credit and an increase in the status of women within their households and communities: provision of credit is believed to lead to the empowerment of women This article reflects on findings from interviews over three weeks with village women’s groups and staff from three NGOs in Bangladesh and one based in Bihar in India These organisations provide microfinance to women as a primary strategy for addressing poverty and empowerment This article also draws on the authors’ experience with credit programmes supported by NGOs in other parts of South Asia and on recent literature on microfinance We argue that development agencies committed to the empowerment of women need to question the nature of the link between access to credit by targeting women and the transformation in gender relations needed for empowerment and equality Significant research and much anecdotal evidence suggest that this link is certainly not automatic (excerpt)

Financing microfinance for poverty reduction.

Abstract: Microfinance is now recognised as an effective and financially sustainable tool for poverty reduction particularly in developing countries but also for the poor in the developed world. The Micro Credit Summit Campaign has just announced that 30.6 million poor households around the world now have access to microcredit and that the number covered increased by 40 per cent over the past year. This means that there is now an opportunity to bring about a substantial reduction of poverty around the world. Microfinance is not a panacea for the elimination of world poverty as not all poor households can make good use of it. Those without an able-bodied member to engage in income-generating activities cannot be helped out of poverty by a loan. Many other poor households do not have either the entrepreneurial ability and/or the self-discipline required to make good use of microcredit. But experience from all around the world now shows that substantial numbers of poor women provided with access to microfinance services are using the opportunity to reduce their poverty and that of their families. (excerpt)