Blog Archives

What We’re Reading: Top 10 Posts on International Women’s Day

As we close out the week, I’m reflecting on some of the articles published in honor of yesterday’s International Women’s Day. Here are just a few of the provocative, interesting, inspiring and even maddening(!) ones I encourage you to read or re-read, in no particular order… “What if Mark Zuckerberg Were Born a Girl in Read more…

Posted in Events, Rural Outreach, What We're Reading, Where We Work, Women's Opportunity Network
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A Call for Sustainable Development on Oct. 17, United Nations Poverty Eradication Day

“People living in poverty face increasingly difficult challenges as climate change, environmental degradation and rising food prices threaten their livelihoods and survival.” -United Nations’s Division for Social Policy and Development Today, October 17, is the United Nations International Day for the Eradication of Poverty (IDEP) and this year’s theme is “From Poverty to Sustainability: People Read more…

Posted in Events, Loans, Microfinance Conference, Our Mission and Vision, Our Work, Resources, Where We Work
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CGI Session-Going Small for Big Results: Microfranchise and Entrepreneurial Growth

It’s been a full first day already at the Clinton Global Initiative in New York. This morning, CGI sessions have explored climate change with President Clinton and eight other world leaders, population issues with Clinton and New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof, author of Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide. Then, attendees learned Read more…

Posted in Events, Resources
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What We’re Reading: Putting Savings in the Bank in the Era of Climate Change

Every Wednesday, we highlight an article, book or a blog in our “What We’re Reading” series. We feature works that are noteworthy, inspiring, educational or relevant to the work we do at Opportunity. We welcome your comments in the comment field below–tell us what you’re reading, or respond to the piece we’ve highlighted. The following Read more…

Posted in Loans, Local Staffing, Our Work, Savings, Technology, Uncategorized, What We're Reading, Where We Work, Women's Opportunity Network
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Crop Insurance: Protecting Farmers Against the Effects of Climate Change

Jeffrey Ebarrita (right) uses a GPS device to survey the land of Rodolfo Felipe, an Opportunity crop insurance policyholder in the Philippines. A recent UPI wire story, which highlights Opportunity International’s weather-index crop insurance, hails microinsurance as an exciting new tool to help communities in the developing world face the worst impacts of climate change. The article, Read more…

Posted in Microinsurance, Our Mission and Vision, Our Work, Rural Outreach, Strategic Partners, Where We Work
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Food & Microfinance: Helping Farmers Reap Rewards

Opportunity International is prominently featured in an article entitled “Food & Microfinance: Helping Farmers Reap Rewards” in today’s Financial Times. The article highlights Opportunity’s leadership in providing both agricultural finance and microinsurance to smallholder farmers to help them increase production, support their families and feed their communities. It also references “Feed the Future,” USAID’s new Read more…

Posted in Loans, Microinsurance, Our Mission and Vision, Our Work, Technology
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CGI and Young Leaders Collaborate for Change at the CGIU Conference

“I strongly believe that, through CGIU, we can harness the energy and power of today’s young leaders to improve the lives of people around the world and build a stronger future for us all.” – President Bill Clinton Reflections from Clinton Global Initiative University (CGIU)… At this conference we spent 36 hours rubbing shoulders with the Read more…

Posted in Strategic Partners, Young Ambassadors for Opportunity
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Equipping Countries to be Agriculturally Self-Sustainable

There is a green revolution occurring in the developing world led by passionate individuals with a heart for change. Within this revolution, Opportunity International is equipping nations to do something radical–to feed themselves. In honor of www.blogactionday.org, I would like to introduce Lucas Chingore. Lucas is a farmer in Mozambique. His desire was to farm Read more…

Posted in Events, Loans, Our Mission and Vision, Our Work, Savings, Where We Work
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