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freedom and change their lives, their families’ futures and their communities.

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As you can see, Opportunity is featured on the economic empowerment spread, pages 18-19. It’s incredibly affirming to be alongside such thought leaders and development advocates as Melinda Gates, Nicholas Kristof, Mary Robinson and Christy Turlington Burns, who are quoted in interviews and have contributed articles in this special edition.

USA Today is distributing this supplement in Chicago, New York, San Francisco and Washington, D.C. If you live in one of these cities or are traveling this weekend, be sure to pick up a hard copy of the newspaper.

Spend some time with this piece and then pass it on to others so they, too, will be inspired to join our growing movement to end global poverty. Be sure to visit our Banking on Women resource page at opportunity.org/change. Here you’ll find readings, videos and interactive features honoring the dignity, resourcefulness and perseverance of women, who make up an estimated 70% of those living on less than $2 per day.

Facebook’s Sheryl Sandberg interviews Bill Gates at the World Economic Forum on Jan. 28, 2011. Gates answers viewer questions and addresses the global need for expansive immunization, advanced agricultural techniques and the importance of traveling to see firsthand the needs of the developing world. For this and more, click the screenshot above to watch the video.

For more video interviews from WEF 2011, visit livestream.com/worldeconomicforum02.

“Savings doesn’t just help people mitigate the risks posed by a medical emergency or a bad crop,” Melinda French Gates told nearly 200 attendees of the forum on Tuesday. “It also gives them the ability to marshal their resources to build something better for themselves and their children. Savings allows people to fund their own businesses, to look ahead with confidence. Savings helps families to take the giant leap from reacting to events to planning for a healthier, happier future.”

At the forum, Melinda Gates pledged $500 million from the foundation over the next five years to improve access to savings and other financial services. As part of this pledge, the foundation announced a package of six new grants aimed at several goals, including: expanding banking and microfinance services to include savings accounts; innovating new approaches to reach more people through branchless and mobile phone banking; and conducting research to identify how people use formal and informal financial tools such as savings, credit, insurance and payment services, and to analyze the impact of financial services on the lives of people living in poverty.

Among the influential leaders in attendance at the forum were Her Royal Highness Princess Máxima of the Netherlands, the U.N. Secretary General’s Special Advocate for Inclusive Finance for Development; Janamitra Devan, vice president and head of network, financial and private sector development for the World Bank–International Finance Corporation (IFC); Yongbeom Kim, director general of Global Financial Architecture Bureau in the Presidential Committee for the G20 Summit; and many more.

Opportunity International Bank of Malawi (OIBM)‘s CEO Aleksandr-Alain Kalanda attended the summit, offering his expertise as a participant in a working session on Wednesday morning entitled “Making the Economics Work for the Poor,” which focused on “The Challenging Economics of Small-Balance Accounts.” Clients of Opportunity Malawi have access to some of the most exciting technological innovations in microfinance, including a growing mobile phone banking network and biometric technology, as well as new advances in agricultural finance that include access to interest-bearing savings accounts.

“At Opportunity Malawi, we have six times more people saving than borrowing. People see how their neighbors’ lives have been impacted by having a secure savings account at our bank, and so they want one too,” Kalanda says.

This summit also occurred shortly after the release of a new document from the Gates Foundation outlining its financial services strategy and its primary emphasis on global savings. Dennis Ripley, Opportunity’s SVP of International Business Development, comments, “It’s one of the best documents I have seen on the value of savings accounts for the poor. It includes a number of detailed examples from around the world. I encourage anyone who is interested in global development to read it.”

The boys and girls of the Ladybird Infant and Primary School in Kampala, Uganda pose for a picture. Preschool teacher Nuulu Nankya (back row, left) and school proprietress Mariam Noah (back row, middle) are Opportunity clients in the Progressive Trust Group.

 Every Wednesday on our blog, we highlight an article, book or a blog in our “What We’re Reading” series. We’ll feature pieces or 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 that we’ve highlighted. 

This week we’re reading the September 2010 report from MediaPlanet in USA Today entitled “Investing in Women & Girls: Dedicating Resources to a Single Woman Has a Ripple Effect on her Entire Community.” It’s an independent report featuring expert editorials–from everyone from Oprah Winfrey to http://www.opportunity.org/blog/melinda-french-gates-on-the-impact-of-agriculture-finance/Melinda Gates[/intlink] to Corinne Woods, the director of the http://www.opportunity.org/blog/un-gathers-this-week-to-eradicate-poverty-through-the-mdgs/U.N. Millennium Campaign[/intlink]–with testimonials as to why it is essential to be investing in http://www.opportunity.org/womens-opportunity-network/women and girls[/intlink] on a global scale. 

In addition to the editorials and interviews, the report outlines five key steps to change the world by empowering women and girls: 

1. Provide Quality Healthcare
2. Access to Financial Resources
3. Raise Awareness
4. Encourage Gender Equality
5. Educate Girls

Here are just a few quotes and highlights from the report. Click here to read “Investing in Women & Girls.” 

Corinne Woods, director of the U.N. Millennium Campaign:

• “The Millenium Development Goals have the power to bring about tangible change in the lives of women and girls.”
• “Make sure your elected representatives know that you support the administration’s new MDG strategy and efforts to prioritize the Millennium Development Goals. Advocate for the Goals in the media and educate your friends and neighbors.”
• Go to endpoverty2015.org and standagainstpoverty.org to learn how you can do more

Opportunity Kenya client Millicent Wahiga easily uses her cell phone to access banking services and repay her loans.

“The New Businesswoman”:

• Afghan entrepreneur Masooma Habibi participated in http://www.opportunity.org/blog/opportunity-attends-the-10000-women-leadership-academy/Goldman Sachs’ 10,000 Women Program[/intlink], where she learned practical skills like accounting, human resources management, and marketing.
• After graduating in 2009, she started her own electrical engineering firm, and has managed to grow her business despite competition from male-owned companies, cultural prejudice in a predominantly male field, and security risks.
• Masooma’s goal is to start an electrical laboratory, and she hopes to establish a nonprofit organization to create job opportunities for all Afghan women.
• “A businesswoman makes her own money to support herself and change her life—but it wasn’t just to have my own business. I knew that if I had a successful business, I could help the poor people around me.” – Goldman Sachs 10,000 Women Graduate Masooma Habibi

Q & A: Melinda French Gates on the Gates Foundation’s commitment to women’s philanthropy:

• “We’re seeing tremendous momentum around the idea that investments in women save lives and help their families, communities and nations to thrive.”
• “Technology has already had a huge impact on women’s lives [in the developing world].”
• “In Kenya, more than nine million people are using cell phones to transfer money [and manage their finances]. This means that women who previously may not have had access to a banking system can now send money to their children’s schools or other family members, or set up and access a savings account. This is revolutionary.”

Oprah Winfrey, Founder of the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls, South Africa:

• “When you educate a girl… you start to affect her family, her community, her nation. When you educate a girl, that girl becomes a woman who understands the value of an education and educates her children.”
• “[At the academy,] we support the development of a new generation of women leaders who, by virtue of their education and service, will lead the charge to transform themselves, their communities, and the larger world around them. [...We will] help raise the next generation of transformative South African leaders.”

These are just a few of the people, organizations and topics highlighted in “Investing in Women & Girls.” Click here to read more. 

Interested in learning more about how Opportunity invests almost 85% of its donor dollars to providing http://www.opportunity.org/what-is-microfinance/microfinance[/intlink] services to women? Attend our http://www.opportunity.org/opportunity-international-conference/breakout-sessions/breakout session[/intlink]–Investing in Half the Sky: Why Women? Why Now?–at the fall microfinance conference, Oct. 8-9, in Washington, D.C. Hear stories of hope and empowerment from Alice Gasatura, director of credit support at Opportunity Rwanda; Julie Hindmarsh, member of our Board of Directors; and Ruth-Anne Renaud, our VP of women’s philanthropy. http://www.opportunity.org/opportunity-international-conference/Click here[/intlink] to see the full agenda for the conference, and to http://www.opportunity.org/opportunity-international-conference/opportunity-international-conference-register-now/register[/intlink].

Jakobo Chikayiko is an Opportunity agriculture finance client in Malawi.

 Want to do more to impact global poverty? In an interview in the August issue of Smithsonian magazine, Melinda Gates outlines the techniques the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is using to fight global poverty in the 21st century. (“Melinda French Gates on Saving Lives,” by Terence Monmaney) It’s part of the magazine’s 40th-anniversary issue, featuring ”40 Things You Need to Know About the Next 40 Years.” If you ever feel that poverty in the developing world is an inevitable fact of life, this interview is an encouraging look at the wide range of strategies that can and are being employed to fight it.

Along with using new http://www.opportunity.org/our-work/technology/technology[/intlink] like cell phone banking, and implementing education and healthcare reforms, Gates emphasizes the importance of reaching rural people, especially farmers, with investment and support. 

Poverty is often viewed as intractable. What has your experience taught you about it? 

History has shown that it’s possible for people to overcome even extreme poverty and hunger[…] We also know that certain strategies have an immense impact. Investing in agriculture, for example. Advances in agriculture during the Green Revolution doubled food production, saved hundreds of millions of lives and laid the groundwork for broader development in many countries. 

Indeed, the Gates Foundation makes significant investments in agricultural development. The foundation, along with The MasterCard Foundation, has given Opportunity a $16 million grant to establish an agricultural finance program in order to reach 1.4 million people, including 90,000 smallholder farmers, in sub-Saharan Africa. The program provides farmers access to financial tools like savings accounts, innovative farming techniques, crop insurance, professional training and market linkages. 

Not surprisingly, women play a crucial role in agricultural life in the developing world. And so Gates emphasizes the inextricable link between empowering women and fighting poverty. 

Studies suggest development aid goes furthest if it is directed to women. Is that your experience? 

[…]Agriculture may be the area where the special role of women in development is most clear. Most small[holder] farmers in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia are women, but a lot of agricultural interventions don’t take that into account. Some programs aim to increase the productivity of crops without understanding that higher production can mean that women have to work longer and harder in the field, leaving them less time to care for their households; that can undermine the welfare of the household in general. And we know that when a woman gets cash for her work, she is more likely than her husband to spend it on things like food and school fees. 

When you wonder if global poverty is an unavoidable fact of life, read Gates’ encouragement for what can and is being done to impact the most economically marginalized people in the world. Read the entire interview at smithsonianmag.com.

Opportunity Malawi clients line up to deposit money or get loans at a mobile bank that makes weekly stops in their rural village.

In an interview with Melinda French Gates in the July/August issue of Smithsonian, the co-chair of the world’s largest philanthropic organization discusses what can be done and what is being done about global poverty and health.

As part of the $22.7 billion the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has given to development, education and health programs, Melinda Gates identifies certain strategies that have immense impact on poverty, including investment in agriculture and access to financial services, especially savings accounts.

She highlights Opportunity International‘s work in these areas:

…[A]ccess to financial services can empower people, especially women, and build up families and entire communities. At the Gates Foundation, we are particularly interested in the potential of small-scale savings accounts to improve poor people’s lives. When people have reliable access to savings, they don’t risk total destitution if there’s a death in the family or a bad crop.

In January, I visited some villages being served by Opportunity International Bank of Malawi to see how savings impact people on the ground. It’s building inexpensive bank branches—one was made out of three shipping containers—and setting up kiosks in shopping centers and post offices. It also operates seven trucks that bring banks to remote places, which is important since 85 percent of Malawians live in rural areas. I saw people waiting in an hour-long line to make an average deposit of about 200 Kwacha, or $1.40. That’s how much demand there is for savings in poor communities!

Expanding financial access to the most economically marginalized people, the Gates Foundation and the MasterCard Foundation partnered with Opportunity earlier this year for a $16 million program to expand financial access to 1.4 million people in sub-Saharan Africa and develop a strategic model to help 90,000 smallholder farmers increase their chances of success. To reach clients in rural areas, Opportunity deploys a range of cost-effective delivery channels, including satellite branches, kiosks, mobile vans, ATMs and point-of-sale devices to expand the number of banking outlets.

In the interview, Gates also highlights the impact of technology. In Kenya, for instance, nearly nine million people are using mobile phones to transfer money. As innovative and safe financial services like these become more available, she says, “financial security will be within reach for millions of families in the developing world. They will have the ability to save for emergencies, pay for health care for their families, start a business or send their children to school.”

To read the full interview with Melinda French Gates in Smithsonian, click here.

While Opportunity serves all people regardless of race, religion, ethnicity or gender, we place a special emphasis on providing financial services to women since they represent 70 percent of the world’s poor and have the fewest opportunities. Traditionally, 85 percent of our clients have been women. In India, 100 percent of our clients are women.

The mission of our Women’s Opportunity Network (WON) of women supporters and staff is to invest in the lives of women around the world, giving them access to financial services and training that transform their lives, their children’s lives and their communities. WON is committed to unleashing the potential of women around the world to make a difference—as leaders, clients, donors, supporters and mentors. Stay tuned on how you can be part of WON’s celebration of mother’s around the world leading up to Mother’s Day on May 9.

To learn more about Secretary Clinton’s remarks at the conference, visit http://www.africasia.com/services/news/newsitem.php?area=africa&item=100327175803.qsctjvnt.php

If you want to hear more from strong women leaders – join us on the ONE call tonight with Melanne Verveer and Melinda Gates.

Click Here to RSVP

On this call, you’ll hear about how smart programs are transforming lives—particularly for women—in the world’s poorest places. Women are the backbone of their communities, growing 80% of the food in Africa, putting children into schools, using microfinance to start small businesses, hanging anti-malarial bed nets, and getting their children vaccinated against deadly diseases. They may be disproportionately impacted by infectious diseases, such as AIDS and malaria, and too often lack important tools and resources, but they have the potential to lead the fight against poverty. It’s already happening every day.

Several staff members from Opportunity International will be on the call, and we hope you will, too.

In her blog post yesterday from the World Economic Forum in Davos, Melinda discusses the “important link between improving health and increasing access to savings accounts.” She points out that access to savings accounts allows impoverished people to save for medical emergencies, thereby contributing to their improved health. She also highlights the variety of ways Opportunity is providing access to banking services in even the most remote areas through the use of low cost kiosks, ATMs and mobile banks.

You can read her post here:

http://blogs.ft.com/gapperblog/2010/01/melinda-gates-in-davos-lessons-from-africa/

And visit www.opportunity.org to get involved with the fight to end global poverty.

This quarter the Women’s Opportunity Network (WON) and Opportunity International’s staff book clubs are diving into Half the Sky by Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn. A read that Melinda Gates calls “a brutal awakening and an unmistakable call to action”, Half the Sky captures one of our era’s most pervasive human rights violations: the oppression of women in the developing world.

Why Half the Sky: This remarkable story about suffering women in Africa and Asia captures the very essence of what the Women’s Opportunity Network is about; unleashing the potential of women around the world to make a difference- as leaders, clients, donors, supporters and mentors. Throughout much of the world, the greatest unexploited economic resource is the female half of the population. Countries such as China have prospered precisely because they emancipated women and brought them into the formal economy, the best strategy for fighting global poverty.

Kristof and WuDunn introduce us to women restricted to a life of sex slavery, abuse, starvation and hopelessness. They vividly illustrate how taking a stand against the exploitation of women around the globe can turn despair into prosperity and empower them to improve their lives, their children’s lives and their communities.

“As an ardent believer that women and girls are the key to our future, I challenge you to do more than just read Half the Sky,” said Julie Hindmarsh, Women’s Opportunity Network (WON) leader and member of the Opportunity Board of Directors. “Post a review and share with others how Opportunity International’s microfinance solution is transforming the lives of women around the globe.”

To learn more about Half the Sky, or to buy your own copy, visit www.halftheskymovement.org
For more information on the Women’s Opportunity Network, go to www.opportunity.org/WON
Join us in reading this compelling book. Get involved in this critical dialogue.