A World Bank-funded project that integrates both HIV education and microfinance initiatives has aimed to provide women in Niger with an opportunity to escape the world of prostitution and start new lives as entrepreneurs, which in turn may help reduce the risk of HIV transmission [1], stated an article from Integrated Regional Information (IRIN) [2], a news agency created by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
A report from the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) reported that several regions in north and east Niger face severe political instability and gender inequality issues. [3] Due to a fairly large population of sex workers, especially in the Diffa area of east Niger, the region has encountered a greater risk of HIV infections. Local officials told IRIN, “[D]espite the region having the country’s highest recorded HIV prevalence, there are too-few testing centers and little awareness about the virus among a transient population.” [1]
In order to increase awareness about the risks of HIV transmission as a sex worker and provide these women with an alternative option for a steady income stream, various NGOs have incorporated microfinance into their HIV education projects.
A 2004 article from the United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) [4], which aims to fulfill the Millennium Development Goals [5] established by the UN, stated, “Access to microfinance can mitigate this desperation [to work as a prostitute for the sake of earning a steady income] and provide additional choices so dangerous decisions that fuel the spread of HIV/AIDS are not made; it can also lessen these gender-based abuses particularly in sub-Saharan Africa where women bear the majority of AIDS cases.” [4]
In communities east of Diffa, various women reported to IRIN that they stopped working as prostitutes when they received microcredit loans from a World Bank-funded project [3]. This depicts how microfinance has opened new doors for these former sex workers in terms of empowerment and steady source of income.
While the partnering of HIV awareness and microfinance may be considered an innovative means to prevent decreasing levels of income, investment and consumption, the UNCDF article also cautions that microfinance institutions ought to diversify their clients without focusing solely on a single target market of people facing risk of HIV, in order to avoid a chance of large number of defaults.
By Radhika Chandrasekhar, Research Assistant
Bibliography
[1] “NIGER: Migration, sex, remoteness boost HIV risk in east.” IRIN humanitarian news and analysis. September 4, 2009. http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=86011
[2] Integrated Regional Information Networks (IRIN): Humanitarian News and Analysis: a project of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. http://www.irinnews.org/
[3] “Niger: UNDP boosts livelihood for women and kids.” United Nations Development Programme newsroom. August 31, 2009. http://content.undp.org/go/newsroom/2009/august/niger-undp-boosts-livelihood-opportunities-for-women-and-girls.en
[4] United Nations Capital Development Fund. http://www.uncdf.org/english/index.php
[5] United Nations Millennium Development Goals. http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/
[6] The Nexus of Microfinance and the HIV/AIDS epidemic: the 14th CGAP/UNCDF Donor Brief. Microfinance Matters – microfinance and HIV. http://www.uncdf.org/english/microfinance/pubs/newsletter/pages/dec_2003/news_hiv.php
Similar Posts:
- MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: OPEC Fund Donating $1m to UNCDF to Boost Energy Access, Reduce Emissions, Starting in Madagascar, Tanzania
- MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: ILO, UNCDF to Expand PICAP Climate Microinsurance Program to 8 Pacific Countries
- MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Jeevan Bikas, Pula, UNCDF Partner on Index Insurance for Farmers in Nepal
- MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: World Bank’s IDA Lending $15m to Djibouti for Low-income Housing Finance, Policy Reform
- MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: UNCDF, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Launch Mobile Money Program in Ethiopia
