MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Grameen Foundation Releases Paper, “Measuring the Impact of Microfinance: Taking Another Look” by Professor Kathleen Odell

The Grameen Foundation, a US-based nonprofit organization, has released a paper, titled, “Measuring the Impact of Microfinance: Taking Another Look,” to address and inform the current debate surrounding microfinance’s efficacy in reducing poverty and ameliorating other social problems.

The paper is a survey of several microfinance impact assessment evaluations released between 2005 and 2010.

“One aim of this paper is to summarize the results of these new studies, disentangling the media interpretation from the actual findings reported,” said Professor Kathleen Odell, author of the paper. She added that while evidence suggests that microfinance is good for microbusinesses, “the overall effect on the incomes and poverty rates of microfinance clients is less clear, as are the effects of microfinance on measures of social well-being, such as education, health, and women’s empowerment.”

By Stefanie Rubin, Research Associate

About the Grameen Foundation

The Grameen Foundation, based in Washington, D.C., aims to help microfinance institutions (MFIs) throughout the world replicate the microfinance model of the Grameen Bank http://www.grameen-info.org/ (external link). It provides financial, technological and managerial support for local organizations and intends to provide new business opportunities and telecommunication services to the rural poor. The Grameen Foundation works with MFIs in about 37 countries worldwide. Though the Grameen Foundation is independent of the Grameen Bank, Muhammad Yunus, the founder of the Grameen Bank, serves on the foundation’s Board of Directors.

Additional Resources:

Source Article: Creating a World Without Poverty: A Grameen Foundation Blog

Measuring the Impact of Microfinance: Taking Another Look

MicroCapital Universe: The Grameen Foundation

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Freedom from Hunger Research Team in Davis, California, Attempts to Reconcile Opposing Arguments Regarding the Effect of Microfinance

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