Many Ned members and organizations are involved both personally and professionally with various facets of microfinance. Within the Ned community there is a global array of lenders, borrowers, microfinance workshop instructors and some microfinance institutions (MFI's). If you or your organization is in anyway connected to microfinance, please feel invited to edit this page and add your related information.

Ned at Kiva

Life in Africa at Kiva

Fortune Magazine Kiva, the only nonprofit that matters

Kiva/Life in Africa on PBS Frontline (yahoo)

Kiva/Life in Africa on PBS Frontline (YouTube)

Other microfinance resources

Muhammad Yunus founder of Grameen Bank (1983) Dhaka, Bangladesh

Microplace USA

MyC4 Copenhagen, Denmark

Microfinance is not the panacea for global poverty, but it is certainly as powerful tool that provides borrowers the opportunity to grow their business and generate money that supports their family. Many MFI's simply look at their success as being defined by total funds loaned, increased borrower amounts, and total number of borrowers. Even on the surface you can see those performance metrics do not being to assess the true nature of microfinance, getting people out of poverty.

During August, 2006 Muhammad Yunus (founder of Grameen Bank, Nobel Peace Prize winner and microfinance inventor) developed the 10 major indicators a borrower must achieve to be considered having moved out of poverty in Bangladesh.

Ten Indicators to Assess Poverty Level

Every year Grameen Bank staff evaluates their work and check whether the socio-economic situation of Grameen Bank members is improving. Grameen Bank evaluates poverty level of the borrowers using ten indicators.

A member is considered to have moved out of poverty if her family fulfills the following criteria:

1. The family lives in a house worth at least 25,000 Taka ($363 USD) or a house with a tin roof, and each member of the family is able to sleep on bed instead of on the floor.
2. Family members drink pure water of tube-wells, boiled water or water purified by using alum, arsenic-free, purifying tablets or pitcher filters.
3. All children in the family over six years of age are all going to school or finished primary school.
4. Minimum weekly loan installment of the borrower is 200 Taka ($2.90 USD) or more.
5. Family uses sanitary latrine.
6. Family members have adequate clothing for every day use, warm clothing for winter, such as shawls, sweaters, blankets, etc, and mosquito-nets to protect themselves from mosquitoes.
7. Family has sources of additional income, such as vegetable garden, fruit-bearing trees, etc, so that they are able to fall back on these sources of income when they need additional money.
8. The borrower maintains an average annual balance of 5,000 Taka ($73 USD) in her savings accounts.
9. Family experiences no difficulty in having three square meals a day throughout the year, i. e. no member of the family goes hungry any time of the year.
10. Family can take care of the health. If any member of the family falls ill, family can afford to take all necessary steps to seek adequate healthcare.

Questions