Sustainability and Poverty Outreach in Microfinance: the Sri Lankan Experience


Book Description

The fulfillment of the role of microfinance institutions (MFIs) in providing affordable financial services to the poor is associated with invariable challenges to MFIs, particularly in maintaining MFIs’ sustainability. The research work undertaken in this context to prepare author’s doctoral thesis has finally culminated in a book, which has comprehensively dealt with the subject of sustainability versus poverty outreach in microfinance. Overall, the results of panel data analysis confirm that there is no trade-off between sustainability and poverty outreach of MFIs. Thus, MFIs are in a position to achieve operational self-sufficiency while expanding services to the poor. Further, it is evident from logit analysis that group lending as against individual lending is strategically important for MFIs to achieve sustainability, successfully warding off the problems of asymmetric information prevailing in the rural credit markets. The book carries a detailed description on Sri Lanka’s financial sector and poverty aspects with special emphasis on microfinance sector which comprises of more than 15000 service providers under a variety of institutions with different mandates and business models. Policy discussion along with the findings of econometric analyses provides the reader with new insights especially in the absence of any other macro-level studies carried out to cover microfinance sector in Sri Lanka.




New Pathways Out of Poverty


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"Published in association with The National Teaching and Learning Forum."




Beyond Poverty


Book Description

Answering the Cry of the Poor in a Million Villages The church is facing a strategic opportunity—85 percent of people living in extreme poverty around the world reside in villages. These villages are also home to the majority of the world’s least reached people. The church has historically played an active role in wholistic ministry and alleviating global poverty with a goal of encouraging sustainable community development. However, while these outreaches may succeed in “helping without hurting,” they still often focus on limited-scope projects that provide good solutions to a single community. In Beyond Poverty, Terry Dalrymple calls us to move beyond sustainable projects in a single village to transformational movements that multiply change from village to village and sweep the countryside. Through multiple case studies based on the actual experiences of more than 900 organizations in 135 different countries, this book tells the story of a large and growing network of ministries around the world using the strategy of Community Health Evangelism to change the life of the poor forever. The principles in this book are not just a theory, but proven strategy. The church is uniquely positioned to accelerate poverty alleviation worldwide. This book will help you understand the fundamentals of catalyzing transformational movements that make disciples among the poor while lifting whole communities out of cycles of poverty and disease. This is our moment! This is your opportunity to advance a global movement and answer the cry of the poor in a million villages.




Microfinance and Poverty


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Poverty, Equal Opportunity, and Full Employment


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Poor People and Library Services


Book Description

In 1996, nearly 40 million United States citizens were reported to be living in poverty. This enormous number set in conjunction with the rapid growth in demand for more information technology presents librarians with a wrenching dilemma: how to maintain a modern facility while increasing services to the economically disadvantaged. Karen Venturella has gathered a diverse group of librarians and facilitators--including Khafre Abif, head of Children's Services for the Mount Vernon Public Library in New York; Wizard Marks, who directs the Chicago Lake Security Center in its mission to improve the area; Lillian Marrero, who has concentrated on providing services to the Spanish speaking population; Kathleen de la Pena McCook, director of the School of Library and Information Science at the University of South Florida; and 15 others--to find strategies for dealing with the current crisis of disparity. These writers address both the theoretical issues of ensuring access to information regardless of ability to pay, and the practical means for meeting the needs of low income populations. Appendices include the ALA's "Policy on Library Services to Poor People," "The Library Bill of Rights," and a listing of poverty-related organizations.







Development Outreach


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Microfinance Poverty Assessment Tool


Book Description

The Microfinance Poverty Assessment Tool method was developed to increase transparency in the outreach performance of microfinance institutions (MFIs) in order to more effectively assess their impact on the lives of poor people. It provides accurate data on the poverty levels of MFI clients relative to people living in the same community, using a more standardised and rigorous set of indicators than those used by conventional microfinance targeting tools, and allow comparative measurement of poverty outreach within and across countries. Although this method was designed for microfinance, it can also be used to measure the poverty levels of clients of other development programmes.




Policies to Address Poverty in America


Book Description

One-in-seven adults and one-in-five children in the United States live in poverty. Individuals and families living in povertyÊnot only lack basic, material necessities, but they are also disproportionally afflicted by many social and economic challenges. Some of these challenges include the increased possibility of an unstable home situation, inadequate education opportunities at all levels, and a high chance of crime and victimization. Given this growing social, economic, and political concern, The Hamilton Project at Brookings asked academic experts to develop policy proposals confronting the various challenges of AmericaÕs poorest citizens, and to introduce innovative approaches to addressing poverty.ÊWhen combined, the scope and impact of these proposals has the potential to vastly improve the lives of the poor. The resulting 14 policy memos are included in The Hamilton ProjectÕs Policies to Address Poverty in America. The main areas of focus include promoting early childhood development, supporting disadvantaged youth, building worker skills, and improving safety net and work support.