The yr 2008 was certainly one of historic change and dynamic accomplishment. But, when retrospectives of 2008 are written, they are going to undoubtedly heart on the warning indicators and fourth-quarter collapse of the worldwide monetary system. Equally, the microfinance sector mirrored this twin sense of alternative and disaster in 2008. Greater than $11 billion of capital flowed into the sector, permitting suppliers to achieve greater than 155 million shoppers with a broader array of merchandise and thru a extra numerous set of channels. Regardless of these advances, by the tip of the yr most MFIs have been revising their progress projections downward within the face of liquidity constraints and the primary indicators of weakening portfolio high quality. At Ladies’s World Banking we made vital modifications to our governance and community membership to replicate finest practices and work extra successfully with our community within the face of those realities. Specifically we started three initiatives as we launched into our 2008-2010 technique to turn out to be the pre-eminent voice for ladies in microfinance:

Commercialization and Ladies: Commercialization of microfinance, resulting in the expansion of MFIs, spells hope for these nonetheless unbanked. However what occurs to poor ladies shoppers when establishments align their pursuits with these of profit-seeking traders? The ensuing trade-offs are examined in a WWB publication, “Stemming the Tide of Mission Drift: Microfinance Transformations and the Double Backside Line,” that warns of the steep drop within the share of girls shoppers as MFIs rework into for-profit entities. See our community’s suggestions on how MFIs can keep targeted on their social mission on web page 10.

Constructing Future Leaders: One other unintended consequence of commercialization is the marked decline of girls employees in any respect ranges of MFI operations. In response, WWB created a diagnostic method, the Organizational Gender Evaluation, to assist MFIs establish and rectify inner constraints to gender range. We current some findings of the evaluation we accomplished with ASA in Bangladesh, one of many world’s main MFIs, and the organizational modifications it carried out to construct an much more meritocratic establishment. See web page 12 for findings of the evaluation we accomplished with ASA in Bangladesh.

Increasing our Community: Regardless of our sector’s huge positive factors, greater than 1 billion folks nonetheless lack entry to any monetary companies. In 2008, WWB expanded our community to make a small, however deliberate, step towards closing that hole. In 2008 we proudly welcomed WWB Ghana, PEACE (Ethiopia) and Ujjivan (India) as new members.

The theme of this annual report is Investing in Ladies, Remodeling Lives. All of WWB’s choices deal with our members’ ladies shoppers. This yr, we gave them instruments to deal with ladies employees and leaders as effectively. I invite you to learn concerning the investments we’re making in ladies and glimpse the methods through which the WWB community is remodeling the lives of hundreds of thousands of poor ladies and their households. Mary Ellen Iskenderian, President and CEO, Ladies’s World Banking.Obtain the English VersionDownload the English Model