Blog Archives
What We’re Reading: Rio +20 and the Role of Women in Economic Development
Last week, June 20-22, over 45,000 people–including world leaders, NGOs, and other policymakers–came together in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, for the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, also known as “Rio +20.” (So named because it has been 20 years since the seminal 1992 UN Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), known as “The Earth Read more…
Tagged brazil, Children, Conference, Economic development, Education, Ending Poverty, environmental sustainability, Global Poverty, Latin America, Mothers, Poverty, Rio de Janeiro, The Nature Conservancy, UN Women, United Nations, United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, Women, World Bank
What We’re Reading: “Tapping into the Potential of the Unbanked in the DRC”
This post, “Tapping into the Potential of the Unbanked in the DRC,” was originally published Wednesday morning on ACCION International‘s Center for Financial Inclusion Blog, written by Kadita Tshibaka, a member of ‘s . Kadita was born and raised in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and spent 33 years working around the world in Read more…
Tagged Accion, Africa, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Blog, Board of Directors, Center for Financial Inclusion, Center for Financial Inclusion Blog, Citigroup, Clients, Dartmouth College, DR Congo, DRC, DRC Grand Opening, Financial Access, Financial services, FINCA, Formal Labor Force, Gallup Poll, Gates Foundation, Global Findex, Kadita "A.T." Tshibaka, Kinshasa, Loans, MFI, Microfinance, Opportunity DRC, Opportunity International, Portfolios of the Poor, Poverty, ProCredit, Savings, savings club, sub-Saharan Africa, Technology, unbanked, World Bank
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…
Tagged Africa, Agriculture, Climate Change, CNN, Community, Education, Ending Poverty, Financial services, Global Poverty, Huffington Post, International Women's Day, IWD2012, Kenya, Loans, Malawi, MFI, Microfinance, Mothers, ONE blog, Opportunity International, Oxfam, Poverty, Rural Outreach, Tanzania, The Guardian, The New York Times, Trust Groups, UN Women, Women, Women's Opportunity Network, Women's Philanthropy, WON, World Bank
Breakout Session: Agricultural Finance: Cultivating Hope
With 65% of the Sub-Saharan African labor force employed in agriculture, which provides 32% of GDP growth, according to the World Bank, the importance of the sector to the economy is clear. Agriculture is recognized as the key to revitalizing Sub-Saharan Africa’s rural regions and significantly reducing the level of poverty. In this breakout session, Read more…
Tagged Africa, Agricultural finance, Agriculture, Clients, Ending Poverty, Financial services, Food security, Global Poverty, John Magnay, Loans, Microfinance, OIC2011, Opportunity International, Opportunity International Microfinance Conference, Technology, World Bank
MicroEnsure Wins Financial Times/International Finance Corporation Sustainable Finance Award
The following news announcement appeared on MicroEnsure’s website on Friday, June 17. MicroEnsure has won the FT/IFC Sustainable Finance Award in the category Achievement in Financing at the Base of the Pyramid. The awards, organized by the Financial Times and the International Finance Corporation, a member of the World Bank Group, were announced on Thursday, Read more…
Tagged Cell Phones, Ending Poverty, Financial services, Financial Times, funeral insurance, Ghana, Global Poverty, Healthcare, Insurance, International finance corporation, life insurance, Loans, MFI, Microensure, Microfinance, Microinsurance, Mobile Banking, Mobile Phones, Opportunity International, Poverty, Richard Leftley, what we're reading, World Bank
LiveBlog: Chicago Microfinance Conference-”Does Microfinance Really Work? – Measuring Social Performance of MFIs”
At this first breakout session of today’s conference, moderator Kathleen Odell, assistant professor of economics at the Dominican University Brennan School of Business, leads a panel of academics and microfinance professionals to explore and debate the benefits of microfinance to effectively help people escape poverty. The panel discusses the actual impact of microfinance–and whether such Read more…
What We’re Reading: “To Fight Poverty, Invest in Girls” (Time Magazine)
Every Wednesday, we highlight an article, book or a blog in our “What We’re Reading” series, featuring pieces that are noteworthy, inspiring, educational or relevant to the work we do at Opportunity International. 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 post Read more…
Tagged Banking on Education, Children, Community, Dominican Republic, Education, Ending Poverty, Financial services, Ghana, Girls, India, Investing in Women and Girls, Malaria, Malawi, Microfinance, Opportunity International, Poverty, Students, Time Magazine, Uganda, United Nations, WFP, what we're reading, Women, Women's Opportunity Network, Women's Philanthropy, WON, World Bank, World Food Programme
What We’re Reading: “Haiti: Could Mobile Banking Be a Legacy of the Earthquake?”
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 International. We welcome your comments in the comment field below–-tell us what you’re reading, or respond to the piece we’ve highlighted. The Read more…
Tagged ATMs, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Cell phone banking, CGAP, cgap technology blog, Earthquake, Ending Poverty, Financial services, Fonkoze, Gates Foundation, Haiti, MFI, Microfinance, Mobile Banking, mobile phone banking, natural disasters, NGO, Opportunity International, point-of-sale devices, Port-au-Prince, POS devices, Poverty, Technology, The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, USAID, what we're reading, World Bank
What We’re Reading: “Women Find Freedom through Land Ownership”
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…
Tagged Africa, Agricultural finance, Agriculture, Banking on Africa, Clients, Domestic violence, Ending Poverty, Financial services, Global Center for Women's Land Rights, Global Poverty, India, Investing in Women and Girls, Loans, Lydia Baldridge Meier, Malawi, MediaGlobal, MFI, Microfinance, Mothers, Opportunity International, Opportunity Malawi, Poverty, Poverty Alleviation, U.N. Development Programme, Uganda, United Nations, violence, what we're reading, Women, Women's Opportunity Network, Women's Philanthropy, WON, World Bank
What We’re Reading: Dead Aid by Dambisa Moyo
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…
Tagged Africa, China, Clients, Dambisa Moyo, Dead Aid, Education, Ending Hunger, Ending Poverty, Financial services, Global Poverty, Hunger, India, international aid, Loans, MFI, Microfinance, Opportunity International, Poverty, what we're reading, World Bank, Zambia

Subscribe via RSS
Subscribe via Email