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#815 From: "Linda Mayoux" <l.mayoux@...>
Date: Thu Feb 16, 2012 10:11 pm
Subject: Genfinance pages on new WEMANResources website
lindamayoux
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Dear all,

 

I am now uploading updated genfinance pages on the new WEMANResources website:

 

http://wemanresources.info/Page3_GenderMainstreaming/3_5_Financial%20services/3_5_0_FinancialServices.html

 

There are now 4 pages up: the main financial services page,  empowerment vs sustainability, financial products and nonfinancial services. The rest will follow tomorrow (Friday).

 

All the pages still need some editing, and I have not managed to put on all the resources I have because my computer has been giving some problems with reading pdfs – I hope this will be resolved by tomorrow.

 

I would be very grateful for any comments, and also if you know of any additional materials you would like me to put on there.

 

I will be starting some discussion threads tomorrow once all the pages are up – this discussion will last until mid March.

 

Best wishes and looking forward to hearing from you,

Linda


#816 From: "Linda Mayoux" <l.mayoux@...>
Date: Sat Feb 18, 2012 7:45 pm
Subject: New WEMANResources website genfinance section
lindamayoux
Send Email Send Email
 

Dear colleagues,

 

I would like to announce the new genfinance section of a new website: WEMANResources http://www.wemanresources.info/Page3_GenderMainstreaming/3_5_Financial%20services/3_5_0_FinancialServices.html    This section has updated and replaced materials on genfinance, but can still be accessed through a holding page on www.genfinance.info

 

This new website is intended as the basis for discussion on strategies to promote gender justice through microfinance, as a follow up to the recent discussions at the MicroCredit Summit in Valladolid.

 

The discussions will continue to take place through the genfinance Yahoo group http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/genfinance/  which everyone is welcome to join (but please do give a brief description of your background to help our management). Our Spanish colleagues are invited to use the WEMANEspanol Yahoo weman_espanol@yahoogroups.com .

 

Particularly burning issues which emerged at the Summit were:

 

1)      Gender and the proposed Seal of Excellence

– what impact and/or process indicators are needed as the ‘minimum’ and what as most desirable in order to encourage MFIs to develop empowerment strategies.

-          What are the relative merits of gender mainstreaming in a general seal compared to promotion of a specific set of gender standards

 

2)      What further product innovations are out there eg pensions for women, products for asset building under women’s ownership, products for men which promote them to share assets and ownership more equally with women and take more responsibility for household well-being rather than overburdening women?

 

3)      What further innovations are there for women’s empowerment strategies which can have significant impact and also be sustainable?

 

4)      Are there any new examples of micro-finance as the basis for wider mobilisation of women and/or men for collective action on gender justice – eg land rights, political participation, gender-based violence etc

 

5)      What should be the main priorities for advocacy? In micro-finance networks? The regional MicroCredit Summits? With governments? With donor agencies?

 

6)      Are there any new training/capacity-building programmes on gender and micro-finance?

 

Please feel free also to raise any other issues you feel are important. And to invite any people you think will be interested. The discussion will continue until at least the middle of March to feed into a workshop on gender and microfinance with SDC in Berne.

 

I would be very grateful for any comments/suggestions for improvement of the webpages – they are an ongoing resource which will be updated as further materials become available.

 

Hoping to hear from you,

Linda

 

PS some of the other sections of the wemanresources website are still under construction but should be complete by end of March.


#817 From: "Linda Mayoux" <l.mayoux@...>
Date: Sat Feb 18, 2012 8:34 pm
Subject: RE: New WEMANResources website genfinance section
lindamayoux
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Dear colleagues,

 

I would like to announce the new genfinance section of a new website: WEMANResources http://www.wemanresources.info/Page3_GenderMainstreaming/3_5_Financial%20services/3_5_0_FinancialServices.html    This section has updated and replaced materials on genfinance, but can still be accessed through a holding page on www.genfinance.info

 

This new website is intended as the basis for discussion on strategies to promote gender justice through microfinance, as a follow up to the recent discussions at the MicroCredit Summit in Valladolid.

 

The discussions will continue to take place through the genfinance Yahoo group http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/genfinance/  which everyone is welcome to join (but please do give a brief description of your background to help our management). Our Spanish colleagues are invited to use the WEMANEspanol Yahoo weman_espanol@yahoogroups.com .

 

Particularly burning issues which emerged at the Summit were:

 

1)      Gender and the proposed Seal of Excellence

– what impact and/or process indicators are needed as the ‘minimum’ and what as most desirable in order to encourage MFIs to develop empowerment strategies.

-          What are the relative merits of gender mainstreaming in a general seal compared to promotion of a specific set of gender standards

 

2)      What further product innovations are out there eg pensions for women, products for asset building under women’s ownership, products for men which promote them to share assets and ownership more equally with women and take more responsibility for household well-being rather than overburdening women?

 

3)      What further innovations are there for women’s empowerment strategies which can have significant impact and also be sustainable?

 

4)      Are there any new examples of micro-finance as the basis for wider mobilisation of women and/or men for collective action on gender justice – eg land rights, political participation, gender-based violence etc

 

5)      What should be the main priorities for advocacy? In micro-finance networks? The regional MicroCredit Summits? With governments? With donor agencies?

 

6)      Are there any new training/capacity-building programmes on gender and micro-finance?

 

Please feel free also to raise any other issues you feel are important. And to invite any people you think will be interested. The discussion will continue until at least the middle of March to feed into a workshop on gender and microfinance with SDC in Berne.

 

I would be very grateful for any comments/suggestions for improvement of the webpages – they are an ongoing resource which will be updated as further materials become available.

 

Hoping to hear from you,

Linda

 

PS some of the other sections of the wemanresources website are still under construction but should be complete by end of March.


#818 From: "Linda Mayoux" <l.mayoux@...>
Date: Mon Feb 20, 2012 5:00 pm
Subject: RE: MicroCredit Summit Draft Report - please send any comments/additions by Wednesday
lindamayoux
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Dear all,

 

Please find attached my draft of the consolidated Summit report – building on Getaneh’s report from December, my notes and the advocacy forms.

 

I need to get this draft finalised to put on the website by Wednesday - Sabina will leave Hivos on Thursday. So I would be grateful for any feedback/comments by then.

 

I know this is very short notice – I had to prioritise the website. There will be plenty of opportunity for further discussion over the coming months. Please do raise any issues you feel necessary on the genfinance Yahoo group.

 

Looking forward to hearing from you – and also your contribution to the discussion on genfinance.

 

Best wishes,

Linda

 

From: Linda Mayoux [mailto:l.mayoux@...]
Sent: 18 February 2012 20:34
To: genfinance@yahoogroups.com; WEMANNetwork (WEMANNetwork_English@yahoogroups.com); weman_espanol@yahoogroups.com; Sabina Gietema (s.gietema@...); 'Katja Koegler'; 'gdiaz@...'; 'sejaldand@...'; 'rurizar@...'; 'plumumba@...'; 'irislanao@...'; 'spait@...'; 'crevilla@...'; 'mzobeida@...'; 'bleussink@...'; 'zia@...'; 'aliani_s@...'; 'asma.ravji@...'; 'arbeela.sahar@...'; 'creamwestnile@...'; 'shoukat.abro@...'; 'salma.umme@...'; 'getanehg2002@...'; 'inafi.asia@...'; 'seher.afsheen@...'; 'dir.ndp.siraj@...'; 'Bukonzo Joint Cooperative Micro Finance'; MicrofinancePractice@yahoogroups.com
Subject: RE: New WEMANResources website genfinance section

 

Dear colleagues,

 

I would like to announce the new genfinance section of a new website: WEMANResources http://www.wemanresources.info/Page3_GenderMainstreaming/3_5_Financial%20services/3_5_0_FinancialServices.html    This section has updated and replaced materials on genfinance, but can still be accessed through a holding page on www.genfinance.info

 

This new website is intended as the basis for discussion on strategies to promote gender justice through microfinance, as a follow up to the recent discussions at the MicroCredit Summit in Valladolid.

 

The discussions will continue to take place through the genfinance Yahoo group http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/genfinance/  which everyone is welcome to join (but please do give a brief description of your background to help our management). Our Spanish colleagues are invited to use the WEMANEspanol Yahoo weman_espanol@yahoogroups.com .

 

Particularly burning issues which emerged at the Summit were:

 

1)      Gender and the proposed Seal of Excellence

– what impact and/or process indicators are needed as the ‘minimum’ and what as most desirable in order to encourage MFIs to develop empowerment strategies.

-          What are the relative merits of gender mainstreaming in a general seal compared to promotion of a specific set of gender standards

 

2)      What further product innovations are out there eg pensions for women, products for asset building under women’s ownership, products for men which promote them to share assets and ownership more equally with women and take more responsibility for household well-being rather than overburdening women?

 

3)      What further innovations are there for women’s empowerment strategies which can have significant impact and also be sustainable?

 

4)      Are there any new examples of micro-finance as the basis for wider mobilisation of women and/or men for collective action on gender justice – eg land rights, political participation, gender-based violence etc

 

5)      What should be the main priorities for advocacy? In micro-finance networks? The regional MicroCredit Summits? With governments? With donor agencies?

 

6)      Are there any new training/capacity-building programmes on gender and micro-finance?

 

Please feel free also to raise any other issues you feel are important. And to invite any people you think will be interested. The discussion will continue until at least the middle of March to feed into a workshop on gender and microfinance with SDC in Berne.

 

I would be very grateful for any comments/suggestions for improvement of the webpages – they are an ongoing resource which will be updated as further materials become available.

 

Hoping to hear from you,

Linda

 

PS some of the other sections of the wemanresources website are still under construction but should be complete by end of March.


1 of 1 File(s)


#819 From: shahbano aliani <aliani_s@...>
Date: Sat Jan 28, 2012 12:52 pm
Subject: Re: Digest Number 417
aliani_s
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dear linda,

thank you for your email.  i think one of the issues that came up was the inclusion of indicators from women MF clients for the seal of excellence.  because as far as i can remember the discussion on the seal of excellence centered too much, or perhaps entirely, on the practitioner's perspective.
 
regards,
 
 
shahbano aliani
thardeep rural development programme
F178/3 block 5, kehkashan, clifton, KARACHI
+ 92 21 358 68 791 - 3
_____________________________________________________
"The whole world is a form for truth." ~ Rumi




From: "genfinance@yahoogroups.com" <genfinance@yahoogroups.com>
To: genfinance@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Saturday, January 28, 2012 4:04 PM
Subject: [genfinance] Digest Number 417

genfinance

Messages In This Digest (1 Message)

Message

1.

Summit follow up discussion 14th - 20th February

Posted by: "lindamayoux" l.mayoux@...   lindamayoux

Fri Jan 27, 2012 2:19 pm (PST)



Dear friends,

I hope you all had a good Xmas and New Year.

I am planning to have an intensive discussion 15th - 20th February on the burning issues identified at the meetings we had at the MicroCredit Summit in Valladolid in November. These still I think remain:

- women's access to the best products, including products to increase asset ownership
- financial education and other nonfinancial services which challenges gender inequalities
- market research to develop empowering products
- gender mainstreaming in SPM
- gender policies for staff
- gender mainstreaming in consumer protection
- the implications for commercial banks and MFIs

I have been developing a new website which brings all the material from genfinance, lindaswebs and wemanglobal together (supported by Oxfam Novib and Hivos) and the first section on WEMANGender Justice vision and key concepts is now up: www.wemanresources. info. This will be a place to put up 'hot' material without waiting for official screening needed for eg wemanglobal.

When I get back to work on 14th Feb after a field trip to Uganda I will start to upload the pages on financial services/microfinan ce and put up some questions for discussion on each. I am hoping in this way I can significantly expand the resources and depth of discussion on the pages (accredited of course).

In the meantime please could you let me know if there are any other issues you feel we need to discuss that week.

Looking forward to hearing from you,

Linda

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#820 From: genfinance@yahoogroups.com
Date: Mon Feb 20, 2012 6:07 pm
Subject: New file uploaded to genfinance
genfinance@yahoogroups.com
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Hello,

This email message is a notification to let you know that
a file has been uploaded to the Files area of the genfinance
group.

   File        : /2011 Microcredit Summit/Microfinance for Gender
Justice_report.docx
   Uploaded by : lindamayoux <l.mayoux@...>
   Description : Discussion Report on Valladolid MC Summit

You can access this file at the URL:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/genfinance/files/2011%20Microcredit%20Summit/Micro\
finance%20for%20Gender%20Justice_report.docx

To learn more about file sharing for your group, please visit:
http://help.yahoo.com/l/us/yahoo/groups/original/members/web/index.html
Regards,

lindamayoux <l.mayoux@...>

#821 From: "lindamayoux" <l.mayoux@...>
Date: Mon Feb 20, 2012 6:16 pm
Subject: Burning Discussion Issue 1: SPM and Seal of Excellence
lindamayoux
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 Burning Discussion Issue 1: SPM and Seal of Excellence

The first plenary presentation was Beyond `'Ethical'' Financial Services: Developing a Seal of Excellence for Poverty Outreach and Transformation in Microfinance (by Frances Sinha). The paper focuses on intensifying implementation of  `Social Performance', consolidating efforts on poverty outreach, client protection, financial transparency, etc and developing indicators and benchmarks for financial service providers. Those receiving the SEAL would have better promotion and recognition among stakeholders, thus putting themselves in a better position to attract funding and other support. This initiative is currently attracting major attention across the sector from practitioners, donors, etc.

The SEAL of Excellence itself does have its critics (such as Christopher Dunford) who strongly argue that the benefit of `Social Performance' management is not clear and a SEAL would only add to the reporting burden on MFIs who are already struggling with onerous financial reporting. Such critics argue that existing reporting formats (such as those by SEEP Network) are enough.

Gender indicators are integrated, focusing on access, and use of loan by women, as well as women staff and board. However WEMAN members have a number of reservations and questions on the current debate from the perspective of gender justice:

         Although monitoring access and use of microfinance services (typically credit) by women is one step forward compared to most previous efforts in the industry which only focus on access (typically % of women clients), this still falls far short of actively promoting gender justice. At best the gender disaggregated poverty measures proposed may lead to the maintenance of basic survival and well-being, (e.g:- proper nourishment, good health, adequate shelter, reasonable clothing and clean water, etc).

         Although monitoring access and use of microfinance services (typically credit) by women is one step forward compared to most previous efforts in the industry which only focus on access (typically % of women clients), this still falls far short of actively promoting gender justice. At best the gender disaggregated poverty measures proposed may lead to the maintenance of basic survival and well-being, (e.g:- proper nourishment, good health, adequate shelter, reasonable clothing and clean water, etc).

         Gender justice requires ensuring equity of rights, opportunities, and responsibilities between women and men. Accessing microfinance, particularly loans, by women essentially adds increased responsibility as the client now has to manage business in addition to all other household chores. One needs to check if such responsibilities are shared by women and men, and whether the income generated is also shared. A further issue is how would this affect the treatment of boys/girls both in sharing of responsibility on business, as well as in taking advantage of the newly increased income, particularly in societies with strong son-preference etc.

         Microfinance women staff, or even women at board, if non-gender aware can not guarantee promotion of gender issues in fact such people can also actively promote the status quo. Conversely this discriminates against MFIs and male staff who want to do important gender work with men.

         The SEAL does not currently have clear indicators of gender on many other financial products, including insurance, remittances, etc.

         There is no guarantee that service providers would abide by  gender indicators in SPM and design their operations and monitoring tools accordingly.

Key issues for WEMAN are therefore:

         To work on design of the SEAL to identify gender indicators which are simple enough not to become reporting burdens and while maintaining their critical value as a gender justice impact measure for microfinance management and day-to-day field operations. These would need to go beyond household poverty levels and look at gender relations.

         To work on more adequate gender management process indicators to take into account not only the gender of staff, but levels of gender competence for both women and men

         To consider the relationship and potential complementarities between gender mainstreaming in the generic SEAL OF EXCELLENCE (focusing on the gender bottom line for all FSPs) and any gender-specific seal (to demonstrate achievements of MFIs who are strategically contributing to women's empowerment and gender transformation)

         To lobby for promotion of these Seals with Social Performance lobby groups such as the SEAL of Excellence, Social Performance Task Force, Smart Campaign, and also rating agencies, regulators, donors, etc. Possibly through establishment of a `Gender Challenge'  like the `Pro-poor Challenge' previously implemented by CGAP, IFAD, etc.

         Gender capacity building with women and men across the industry to promote implementation of gender indicators/performance management, including processes of self-reflection.

         To monitor implementation and draw out the lessons from the whole process for Good Practice in products, services and management to increase the contribution of financial services to gender justice.

         To establish sustainable mechanisms to incentivize FSPs of all types to abide by the Gender/SPM criteria.



#822 From: "lindamayoux" <l.mayoux@...>
Date: Mon Feb 20, 2012 6:18 pm
Subject: Burning Issue 2: Products
lindamayoux
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Burning Issue 2: Products

There are also a number of other concerns expressed by WEMAN members:
 Products are generally not designed for women's business/life-cycle needs and
there is an artificial divide between consumption and production loan. Moreover
products shift to men when loans become larger
 Merely increasing proportion of women clients per se, without complementary
gender interventions, can be counterproductive, creating bad feeling from
husbands (withdraw contribution, feel their traditional power position is
threatened, increase violence, etc, etc)
 Financial services like credit also involve new business management
responsibilities, often in addition to women's traditional household chores.
Gender-aware financial service providers should therefore also look into how the
newly added business responsibilities are shared by household members, husband
and wife, etc, but also the allocation of potential benefits from business among
members and sexes, including between the girl-child and boy-child.
 There is little discussion of products for men to promote gender justice and
counter destructive aspects of `masculine' behaviour. For successful gender
mainstreaming, men should be involved, and be part of the process, and ways of
engaging them in the process of gender transformation need to be identified.
 Lack of monitoring loan usage to check whether loans are being utilized for
entitlements or whether financial services have improved skills, investments and
infrastructure
 Service providers' increased women staff, or even women at board, if
non-gender aware, can not guarantee promotion empowerment of women or gender
equality  in-fact such people can also actively promote the status quo.
 Service providers have little incentive to endorse new operational modalities
on gender because they assume that they will incur huge cost, and threaten their
organizational sustainability.
 Service providers can have little concern for mainstreaming gender issues in
their policy or product, since given that in most circumstances (especially in
rural context) supply is so low and there is little competition in market, they
can sell almost any product, without bothering about product quality, or its
implications on impact on livelihoods or gender equality, etc

Key issues for WEMAN are therefore:
1) To take advantage of some current opportunities:
 Security free loans
 Government offering rural land, and other subsidies (India)
 More institutions offering saving services (Banks, cooperatives, MFIs, etc)
 Technology (mobile banking, cell-phone based facilities)
 Value chain finance

2) To identify products which can empowerment for example:
 All assets created out of loans (released from debt - India) should be
registered in women's name and she should be able to keep her assets completely
secretly from family members
 Collaterals (assets owned by women like jewelry, cattle, trees, etc) should be
allowed for larger loans
 Loans to improve/protect/promote women's health/nutrition status/security
 Repayments to be restructured/made different just like business cycles  think
of life-cycle needs of women (including pregnancy, birth, etc???)
 Mobile banking  security, time saving, local, confidential
 Products which change men's behaviour eg Pakistan survey indicate men spend 1
million Rupees a year on tobacco and stop contributingto the household once a
woman gets an income
 Awareness raising both for men and women prior to establishing savings account
and promote finanfial transparency within households
 Market research and value chain development in viable enterprises which women
and men clients are involved in
 Development and scaling up of innovative and successful methodologies for
empowerment of women and gender mainstreaming in microfinance programmes tools
like Gender Action Learning System (GALS).

#823 From: "lindamayoux" <l.mayoux@...>
Date: Mon Feb 20, 2012 6:19 pm
Subject: Burning Issue 3: Nonfinancial Services
lindamayoux
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Burning Issue 3: Nonfinancial services

Complementary gender awareness creation can also play critical role, for example
at regular group forums, which clients often have to attend to make repayments,
do savings, etc. However in all this discussion there continues to be little
concern about the `Black-Box of the household' and promotion of gender equality.
There is little undersanding in the sector of what is meant by gender
mainstreaming, and gender continues to be viewed as a marginal `add-on'.  There
are no clear indicators to measure impact in non-financial services offered to
the communities, including gender.  There is no real concept of community
participation or linkage between the services and policy level.

Key issues for WEMAN are therefore:
 Capacity building in vocational technical skill and leadership and BDS with
gender focus
 ELinkages to market and other institutions that provide services (state or
civil society organizations)
 People/clients knowing their rights and understand the law and ask the
government to provide quality services as a right
 Further development and promotion of GALS and FALS as a sustainable
methodology for working with women and men for gender transformation.
 Linkage between community-level processes and policy advocacy.

#824 From: "lindamayoux" <l.mayoux@...>
Date: Mon Feb 20, 2012 6:20 pm
Subject: Burning Issue 4: Macro Policy
lindamayoux
Send Email Send Email
 
Burning Issue 4: Macro Policy

A number of key concerns have been raised by WEMAN members:
 There are some affirmative actions being taken by governments and regulators
to support women empowerment, but these are at rudimentary levels and not well
designed. While there are some efforts by governments in the effort to achieving
the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), these have primarily focused on
achievements of food security and other basic needs. There has again been little
attention to gender issues in any of the discussions.
 Poor women continue to lack access not just to finance, but to almost all
other key resources essential for maintaining livelihoods because of (men-)
biased development policies for many decades or even centuries.
 Given that microfinance has proved to be `profitable' venture in many
circumstances, it is attracting purely profit oriented commercial investors
which, un-monitored, can lead poor people into over-indebtedness and break-up of
families. There is also a tendency to use microfinance as an instrument of
prioritization of government services/responsibilities.
 More effort is needed to encourage community- (women-) managed financial
services.
 There is little advocacy at the policy level for women's empowerment and
gender mainstreaming through microfinance. At macro level more affirmative
actions is needed by governments, donors, etc not just to enhance women's access
to suitably designed financial resources (by attracting service providers into
rural or difficult areas through investing on infrastructure, communication,
etc) but also enhancing `credit worthiness' of poor people, especially women.
There is a need for policies to making women acceptable to financial service
providers through investing in other developments interventions supportive of
women enterprises, including business development services (BDS), skill
training, marketing, legal services, etc.
 There is a long way to go at macro level to create an enabling environment for
the poorest section of the population. Policy-making is still structured and
dominated by `old-boys clubs'.
 Key to change and promoting women's empowerment is increasing the number of
women in leadership positions.  Women are not getting opportunity to participate
in politics and local level decisions. Microfinance need to, and can, play a
(perhaps `the') key role towards this end. Such linkages need to be actively
facilitated. Multiplier effects are huge, since, among others, successful women
can be role models to rest of poor women in localities, as well as influencing
traditional attitudes and perceptions toward the girl child.

Key issues for WEMAN are therefore
 Development of a gender framework for poverty assessment which takes account
of gender differences in opportunities and constraints in households and
communities as well as individual level. This could build on existing work by
the UN and other agencies on gender indicators.
 Advocacy for gender mainstreaming in poverty policies and MDGs
 Gender advocacy with players across the financial sector, not just MFIs to
increase positive assessments of women's credit-worthiness and the types of
products needed
 Gender mainstreaming in consumer protection to improve products and services
for women
 Promotion of women's leadership and involvement of men in a gender
transformation process
 Advocacy to mainstream gender in CSR
 Promotion of gender action research with FSPs and also to support gender
policy advocacy.

#825 From: "lindamayoux" <l.mayoux@...>
Date: Mon Feb 20, 2012 6:30 pm
Subject: WEMAN Genfinance - MCS Follow Up discussion
lindamayoux
Send Email Send Email
 
Dear friends,

As indicated in my mail earlier today, I have now finished the Draft Discussion
docunent from the Valladolid Micro Credit Summit in November.

This highlighted four key areas for debate related to gender justice - and
therefore of concern to WEMAN genfinance:

1) SPM and the proposals for a Seal of Excellence. Gender is supposed to be
mainstreamed, but there are issues around appropriate indicators which show
impact as well as just %women. Also the relation between mainstreaming in this
generic seal and a specific gender seal being developed by REDLADER in Latin
America.

2) Product design for empowerment in the context of commercialisation, poverty
targeting and participatory market research

3) Nonfinancial services, including financial literacy and promotion of women's
rights

4) Macropolicy issues and advocacy in the sector to mainstream gender in the
poverty and development agenda and promote women's economic rights.

In all the above the roel/needs of men in relation to gender justice.

In order to focus the debate  I have just sent messages opening 4 separate
discussion threads - cut and paste from the main report.

The discussion will take place over an indefinite perion, but it would be great
to have some reponses asap so that I can incorporate these in the final version
of the Report to reach sabina at Hivos before she leaves on Thursday.

Otherwise may the debate be long and fruitful!!!And any contributions to the new
genfinance section of the WEMANResources website also gratefully received.

And a reminder that members are free to post any of your onw files etc in the
folders on this Yahoo group. I have just made a special folder for new 2012
files.

Looking forward to hearing from you,
Linda

#826 From: "Linda Mayoux" <l.mayoux@...>
Date: Mon Feb 20, 2012 6:49 pm
Subject: FW: SMART campaign extension
lindamayoux
Send Email Send Email
 

Dear all,

 

I just now noticed this extension, and am attaching a copy of a draft outline I developed in 2008. Would be great if you could send any comments you have to the SMART Campaign, copied to genfinance.

 

Linda

 

 

Public comment period on the Smart Campaing's Client Protection Certification

Dear colleagues,

The Smart Campaign Certification Task Force needs your help!  The comment period on the Client Protection Certification Program  has been extended through the end of February 2012, as it is crucial to include the voice of the industry in the development of this program.  The full proposal has also been translated into French and Spanish in order to receive feedback from diverse stakeholder groups.  With your input, the task force hopes to confirm the assumptions, refine the process, and pilot test the proposed adequate standards for client protection.

To read the full Certification Program proposal, please click here and then share your questions and/or comments by sending an email to comments@....  We appreciate your time and participation as we build this important industry initiative.

Thank you!




1 of 1 File(s)


#827 From: "Linda Mayoux" <l.mayoux@...>
Date: Tue Feb 21, 2012 9:32 am
Subject: FW: Burning Issue 2: Products
lindamayoux
Send Email Send Email
 

 

 

From: Chris Linder (Hotmail) [mailto:chris_linder@...]
Sent: 21 February 2012 04:31
To: l.mayoux@...
Subject: Re: Burning Issue 2: Products

 

Hi Linda,

 

Great to see the new resource and initiative is under way.  In terms of SPTF, now is the time to get involved.  The new SPM standards will be out in June.  There are working groups working on Governance, Social goals, target clients & client monitoring, Products and Services (I am facilitating this group) and Responsible Finance.  You probably know this but there is also a Gender working group facilitated by FWWB.  

 

Here is the website for more information: http://www.sptf.info/sp-task-force/working-groups

 

Cheers,

 

Chris

 

Chris Linder

Rome, Italy

Tel: +1-978-309-3768 (US) / +39-3457242641 (Italy)

Skype: christopher.linder / Linked-In

 


#828 From: genfinance@yahoogroups.com
Date: Tue Feb 21, 2012 5:06 pm
Subject: New file uploaded to genfinance
genfinance@yahoogroups.com
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Hello,

This email message is a notification to let you know that
a file has been uploaded to the Files area of the genfinance
group.

   File        : /2012_New Files/SPTF Gender Working Group Position
Paper_DRAFT_10.10.11[1].doc
   Uploaded by : getanehg2002 <getanehg2002@...>
   Description : SPTF ''Gender Indicators'' - Gender and the Universal Standards
for Social Performance Management Position Paper, by SPTF Gender Working Group,
Oct 2011

You can access this file at the URL:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/genfinance/files/2012_New%20Files/SPTF%20Gender%20\
Working%20Group%20Position%20Paper_DRAFT_10.10.11%5B1%5D.doc

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#829 From: "Linda Mayoux" <l.mayoux@...>
Date: Wed Feb 22, 2012 4:55 pm
Subject: FW: [MFP] Digest Number 3314
lindamayoux
Send Email Send Email
 

An interesting discussion here on women and SHGs.

 

From: MicrofinancePractice@yahoogroups.com [mailto:MicrofinancePractice@yahoogroups.com]
Sent: 22 February 2012 14:24
To: MicrofinancePractice@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [MFP] Digest Number 3314

 

Messages In This Digest (5 Messages)

1a.

Re: A Challenge From: Malcolm Harper

1b.

Re: A Challenge From: Janet Heisey

1c.

Re: A Challenge From: Kim Wilson

1d.

Re: A Challenge From: bretthudsonmatthews

2a.

Thanks From: Ramesh S Arunachalam

Messages

1a.

Re: A Challenge

Posted by: "Malcolm Harper" malcolm.harper@...   malcolm.harper@...

Tue Feb 21, 2012 7:20 am (PST)



Thanks Kim, let's hope the results will inspire..... But I referred at some length to the Savings Group Movement (can we call it that, and avoid brand names ?) when we discussed the need for better records, for better mechanisms to avoid damaging disputes, and for banks to have more reliable information on which to base lending decisions.

I rather doubt though that NABARD would pay for the development of savings groups, unless perhaps one could find a community which was entirely by-passed by bankers and hence SHGs. I'd be fascinated by some such experiment, perhaps formalising and insh'allah improving (not easy) something like the groups in the North East in our book, or, better, reaching way down to very poor people, who don't often get into SHGs.

In that context I suggested that they might try a BRAC or Bandhan type TUP, but ending in an SHG not an MFI. Maybe savings groups could be part of that.
----- Original Message -----
From: Kim Wilson
To: MicrofinancePractice@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Tuesday, February 21, 2012 1:07 PM
Subject: Re: [MFP] A Challenge

Dear Malcolm -

Thank you for this inspiring update on NABARD. Nice that women will have the option of privacy of individual accounts and I am assuming pension funds.

I agree with Jeff that these small groups really are a route to financial empowerment, an empowerment which can only fully express itself when a thoughtful range of long-term savings products are on offer. Please don't keep us in the savings group ghetto.

At the moment groups do not offer women privacy and except for the SHGs in India do not offer a chance at building long-term assets. I think that many male practitioners do not appreciate that women often want more than a year-long option to save. If given the chance, they might like a mortgage, or a chance to save for retirement. These products might require that solid financial institutions reach out to groups to serve individual members. Good that NABARD sees the wisdom of this. As always, they are a step ahead.

Kim Wilson
Faculty, Fletcher School, Tufts University (617-763-2469)
Kimberley.Wilson@...

----------------------------------------------------------
From: Malcolm Harper <malcolm.harper@...>
To: MicrofinancePractice@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Tuesday, February 21, 2012 7:20 AM
Subject: Re: [MFP] A Challenge


Jeff, and all,

Well timed, I just now came from a rather useful one-day meeting with NABARD, various banks, NGOs, the regulator and so on to discuss the next 20 years of SHGs. Starting next weekend as it happens, the first 20
years end on 26th February, the anniversary of the circular which allowed banks to lend to them.

Let's see what emerges, but there will for sure be emphasis on individual savings, in the banks, and some other good things. MFIs were hardly mentioned, they came and more or less went during the period.

Malcolm

----- Original Message -----
From: _
To: MicrofinancePractice@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Tuesday, February 21, 2012 1:20 AM
Subject: Re: [MFP] A Challenge

REVISED

Dear Brett, Malcolm, Prabat, Garrett,
I have been following this exchange with great interest. Prabatt I enjoyed reading your assessment of the first Savings Group conference held at Tufts. I recently returned from the second conference, one much more oriented to practitioners, held in Arusha, Tanzania with representatives from 46 countries. There are currently more than 6,000,000 Savings Group members, most of these in Africa but with growing number in Asia and Latin America underscoring the universality of this approach. Savings Groups are much like the Self Help Groups of India before they are linked to bank credit through the Self Help Group Bank Linkage program. There are between 80 and 100 million SHG members in India making SHGs by far the largest financial inclusion movement in the world.
The great strength of both Savings Groups and SHGs is that they are the right size - 15 to 30 members. The transactions that occur only during the meetings are observed by all the members. SACCOS and the smaller credit unions can work well but as the size of the membership increases beyond 75 or so the transparency that is the hallmark of Savings Groups as well as the need for much more sophisticated record keeping often overwhelms their capacity. There are two sizes of institutions that work well - small SGs and SHGs and larger credit unions, banks and MFIs where there is sufficient capacity and oversight to insure that they work well.
I believe that the greatest potential for financial inclusion is though these smaller groups which, like credit unions, also encourage discipline and develop social capital, mobilize local savings, keep money circulating in the community and where all the profits return to the members.

Jeff
Jeffrey Ashe
Director of Community Finance
Oxfam America
---- Original Message ----
From: _ <jaashe@...>
To: MicrofinancePractice <MicrofinancePractice@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Mon, Feb 20, 2012 8:09 pm
Subject: Re: [MFP] A Challenge

---- Original Message ----
From: kendall <kendall@...>
To: MicrofinancePractice <MicrofinancePractice@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Thu, Feb 16, 2012 6:20 pm
Subject: Re: [MFP] A Challenge

Brett,

I agree with you completely. I started working in the credit union industry when I was 13 yrs old in Hawaii. My father was one on the founders of the Hawaii movement in the late 1940's and 50's. As a PC volunteer in credit union development in Panama and Senegal, I've seen how hard it is to establish good CU's in Africa and South America Vs the Western World. illiteracy, low population rural locations, spending 10 yrs building savings before there were enough funds for lending, French culture that never developed cooperatives in most of France, etc. All contributed to the problems. We sent all our extension agents to Canada for training at Desjardins.

When I returned to the US, I managed a well established company credit union in CA for 10 yrs.

Ten years ago, a group of partners and I started a private MFI in Honduras. It's taken a full 10 yrs to establish a rock solid company. We are just now being certified for Central Bank regulation. A 3-yr program. We can then start to capture savings and not have to 100 percent rely upon private equity and debt equity which carry high costs.

As I follow this discussion, I'll jump in every now and then with comments on similarities and differences in running the 2 kinds of institutions.

Thanks for starting this discussion.

Dr Kendall Mau, MBA, DBA
Prisma de Honduras

Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile

----------------------------------------------------------

From: "bretthudsonmatthews" <brett@...>
Sender: MicrofinancePractice@yahoogroups.com
Date: Thu, 16 Feb 2012 21:38:19 -0000
To: <MicrofinancePractice@yahoogroups.com>
ReplyTo: MicrofinancePractice@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: [MFP] A Challenge

Hi Garrett

Sorry, but I can't agree with you that `the debate is over'. Credit unions work very well in my country (Canada) and in most of the West, but they have manifestly failed in many parts of the developing world. They have manifestly succeeded better in urban areas than in rural areas. They often fall victim to elite capture and corruption. Federations secure monopolies and abuse them. While I sympathize greatly with credit union practitioners, I feel that we need to own our problems. If credit unions were such an extraordinary success story everywhere, if the debate were in fact `over', we would have already achieved financial inclusion. Instead, most immigrants from the developing world arriving in my country will choose a bank over a credit union, based on experience in their home countries. How is the debate `over'?

We do need conferences and discussions. Why is it that credit unions, after succeeding in many parts of Europe and America, did not transpant nearly as successfully in many parts of the developing world? Why it is that even in Europe they worked better in some countries (e.g. Germany) than in others (e.g. England)? What makes them work better in some contexts than others? Are some countries (e.g. India) ready now, based on a learning process that has emerged from their difficult past experiences? What is the role of literacy in maintaining the transparency and accountability needed for citizenship in a credit union? Why do we even need SHGs and VSLAs, if credit unions are so good? How do the roles of these various players overlap and complement each other, or it all wasteful duplication? The emergence of behavioral economics and the increasingly insightful analyses of how cooperation emerges, how trust is sustained and how institutions are built, should be of enormous interest to anyone who wants to savings-led models to realize their full potential.

It is indeed unfortunate (though not a crime!) that we have so little to say.

I know SHGs well, and most (with some shining exceptions) are not savings-led. They don't even test their own savings balances; savings transactions is tracked on a running account basis with no balancing. How can we call such a practice savings-led? It leads to tragedy, not to accumulation. I would love to see a conference on how to transform SHGs into the powerful, community-based, saving-led financial intermediaries they really could be. But I think credit unionists would rather retreat into a shell of their own than publicly ask the hard questions. And judging from other comments on this board, SHG advocates seem to be going in the same direction.

It's very easy to blame the other side for the current situation. But that isn't going to put poverty in museums. In fact, that attitude is precisely what will perpetuate it. Whether we like it or not, as practitioners our job is to be stewards of the future financial aspirations of poor people. I cannot be negative; I have no right. Stopping the talk is not good stewardship; it abandons stewardship. And in the silence, poor people continue to struggle on their own.

Brett

--- In MicrofinancePractice@yahoogroups.com, Garrett Wyse <garrettwyse@...> wrote:
>
> Brett,
>
> It seems as if it is unacceptable to talk about it, because we would not
> have much to say. And this seems to be the crime.
>
> The debate is over. A savings led approach to delivering financial
> services is generally accepted as being the way to go, but it is not as
> profitable or as 'sexy' as the many variations.
>
> There would be no more justification for conferences, seminars, new
> research, new courses, new investment 'products' for developed nation
> institutional investors (NGO's, national aid and development programmes,
> international banks), i.e. the poeple who have a stake not in solving the
> problem but in teasing it out, and making money from it, while being able
> to sleep comfortably on well padded pillows.
>
> Credit unions work, ask the three quarters of Irish people who use them
> (and no bubbles from their loans), SHG's work, ask the millions of Indian
> poeple who use their services.
>
> So the thinking is over, the debate is over.
>
> However the merrygoround would have to stop is we accpet this, and we cant
> have that can we?
>
> Dave Richardson has for years been banging the credit union drum on this
> forum, he must be sick of reading and writing the same stuff, that the
> debate is over, science and sense have come out on top, savings led
> approaches work, simple.
>
> I myself have just about stopped, you just feel that you are shouting into
> an empty vessel.
> If you are not sying what people want to hear then they do not hear.
>
> However as ever more millions get access to more mainstream, demanded
> financial services then what does it matter what daft professors are
> talking to each other about.
> How about we put them all in a room and leave them there to talk to each
> other debating the finer points of ridiculous nuaces.
>
> Does anyone want to listen to their empty rhetoric anymore?, not I for
> one.
>
> Sorry to sound negative, but the self-interest of the few at the top, seems
> to hold sway over the life and work experiences and education of millions
> of people actully on the ground and their lives are infinitely more
> important to them than those they proclaim to serve.
>
> Garrett
>
>
>
>
> On 13 February 2012 16:57, Brett Hudson Matthews <brett@...> wrote:
>
> > **
> >
> >
> > Dear All:****
> >
> > ** **
> >
> > I have been working in microfinance for 12 years. My goal is to fight
> > poverty. This requires that we deliver safe, flexible savings as well as
> > loans. Before that I worked in credit union for 8 years. This credit union
> > was a member-owned bank with 50,000 members that was and continues to be,
> > consistently profitable and more inclusive than the commercial banks in my
> > city of Toronto. ****
> >
> > ** **
> >
> > I remember discussing with my friends at the Calmeadow Foundation, not far
> > from our office, the strange disconnect between the mainstream of
> > microcredit and the credit union world. These worlds seemed not to talk to
> > each other, and not to learn from each other. I greatly admire people from
> > both sides of this strange divide, and they have so much in common.
> > Raiffeisen, the first credit union pioneer, writes in his history of the
> > German credit union movement that the primary goal was to free the poor
> > rural farmer from the village moneylender. Desjardins, the North American
> > pioneer, was inspired to act by a horrific example of moneylender abuse
> > reported in Canada's parliament, and upheld by a local Canadian court. In
> > my mind, Dr. Yunus a great inheritor of a great tradition – but this is not
> > the way the matter is seen by my friends on either side of this divide.
> > Instead, both marginalize the other and ignore their work.****
> >
> > ** **
> >
> > Personally, I carry no ideological baggage. I was inspired by a personal
> > discussion with Dr. Yunus to work for a financial institution, and the
> > credit union seemed small enough to let me get a good handle on practice
> > fairly quickly. I am not interested in an ideological debate, though I know
> > that that is how this matter is too often framed by practitioners and
> > experts. Ideology in this case generates far more heat than light, and is a
> > waste of everyone's valuable time. ****
> >
> > ** **
> >
> > I am interested – like Dr. Yunus, like Desjardins and like Raiffeisen – in
> > fighting poverty, and I am seeking practical solutions. It is a historical
> > fact that credit unions delivered safe, flexible savings as well as
> > microcredit – often for periods of much longer than 1 year -- to 2 million
> > rural German households by 1900. That system spread to countries across
> > Europe in the second half of the 19th century, putting in place the
> > preconditions for the modern European cooperative banking system. ****
> >
> > ** **
> >
> > Given that rural financial inclusion is our largest problem in modern
> > microfinance, I challenge the readers here to tell me why it is considered
> > unacceptable to discuss how Raiffeisen did it? I challenge readers here to
> > explain to me – if they can – why a system that worked all over the
> > developed West a century ago is of no analytical or practical interest in
> > teaching us how to overcome the challenges of financial inclusion in the
> > developing world today? ****
> >
> > ** **
> >
> > I have posted a blog on this topic at
> > http://villagefinance.net/2012/02/13/the-first-wave-of-microfinance/.****
> >
> > ** **
> >
> > Best regards,****
> >
> > ** **
> >
> > ** **
> >
> > Brett ****
> >
> > ** **
> >
> > ** **
> >
> > Brett Hudson Matthews****
> >
> > Managing Partner | Village Finance****
> >
> > *Mathwood Consulting Company*
> >
> > 242 Gainsborough Road****
> >
> > Toronto, CANADA M4L 3C6****
> >
> > ** **
> >
> > brett@...****
> >
> > (416) 420 1096****
> >
> > ** **
> >
> > www.villagefinance.net****
> >
> > *Re-inventing village finance!*
> >
> > ** **
> >
> >
> >
>
>
>
> --
> Garrett Wyse
> 00-353-87-6536002
>

1b.

Re: A Challenge

Posted by: "Janet Heisey" janeth@...   jheisey

Tue Feb 21, 2012 8:26 am (PST)



Hi Malcolm and Kim,



I’ve been interested to read this thread about the increasing outreach (and hopefully downreach) of self-help groups in India. Trickle Up is working with nearly 2,500 ultra-poor participants in India using a graduation-model program (utilizing the same tools as other graduation pilots—consumption support, livelihood grant, training and careful coaching) that is focused around the self-help group. Ultra-poor women selected for the program start SHGs at the earliest stages of the program, working together to help plan and approve each individual woman’s livelihood plan, save collectively and borrow from the group. Ultimately, by the end of the 3-year project, we look for groups with strong savings and credit ratios and active membership. They link with banks and receive loan capital to support the growth or diversification of their livelihood activities.


I just returned from a field visit (visiting two partners that are about halfway through the project cycle) and was struck by the solidarity of the groups. Their savings habits are strong and regular, their attendance rates are good, and they’re moving beyond the financial benefits to taking collective actions to benefit the broader community—advocating with local political leaders to improve roads and other services, taking initiative to clean their village, clean wells and eliminate standing water. It’s becoming clear to us that after a certain point (1 year or so after SHG mobilization) the dynamic of the groups shift and they begin to drive the changes and benefits that affect their membership (and to an extent the broader community). For very marginalized populations such as members of the Musahar community this change can take a wee bit longer. But it does happen. Soon the dynamism of the group helps fuel economic changes for many in the group, allowing Trickle Up’s partner agencies to focus more on those participants that need a bit more support to ultimately ‘graduate.’



We’d be really interested in sharing this experience with you and others as we believe that creating independent, strong self-help groups is critical to the sustainability of the changes we’re now seeing in the communities. We’re preparing for an endline evaluation of three partner agencies (800 participants) this spring and will certainly be looking to better understand how the dynamics of these self-help groups interplay with the livelihood development goals of the project—and what other benefits, if any, accrue to the members as a result of SHG membership. We’d be happy to share the results of this research with anyone who is interested.



We’re looking forward to more and more ultra-poor women gaining a foothold in the tremendous growth and development of the SHG movement.



Thanks,



Janet





Janet Heisey

Director, Asia Program / Trickle Up

104 W 27th St, 12th Fl / New York, NY 10001 USA

Tel: 212.255.9980 x 205 / Fax: 212.255.9974

asia@... <mailto:airanpour@...%7C> / www.trickleup.org <http://www.trickleup.org/>













From: MicrofinancePractice@yahoogroups.com [mailto:MicrofinancePractice@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of Malcolm Harper
Sent: Tuesday, February 21, 2012 9:48 AM
To: MicrofinancePractice@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: [MFP] A Challenge







Thanks Kim,
let's hope the results will inspire..... But I referred at some length to the Savings Group Movement (can we call it that, and avoid brand names ?) when we discussed the need for better records, for better mechanisms to avoid damaging disputes, and for banks to have more reliable information on which to base lending decisions.



I rather doubt though that NABARD would pay for the development of savings groups, unless perhaps one could find a community which was entirely by-passed by bankers and hence SHGs. I'd be fascinated by some such experiment, perhaps formalising and insh'allah improving (not easy) something like the groups in the North East in our book, or, better, reaching way down to very poor people, who don't often get into SHGs.



In that context I suggested that they might try a BRAC or Bandhan type TUP, but ending in an SHG not an MFI. Maybe savings groups could be part of that.

----- Original Message -----

From: Kim Wilson <mailto:orientrow@...>

To: MicrofinancePractice@yahoogroups.com

Sent: Tuesday, February 21, 2012 1:07 PM

Subject: Re: [MFP] A Challenge





Dear Malcolm -



Thank you for this inspiring update on NABARD. Nice that women will have the option of privacy of individual accounts and I am assuming pension funds.



I agree with Jeff that these small groups really are a route to financial empowerment, an empowerment which can only fully express itself when a thoughtful range of long-term savings products are on offer. Please don't keep us in the savings group ghetto.



At the moment groups do not offer women privacy and except for the SHGs in India do not offer a chance at building long-term assets. I think that many male practitioners do not appreciate that women often want more than a year-long option to save. If given the chance, they might like a mortgage, or a chance to save for retirement. These products might require that solid financial institutions reach out to groups to serve individual members. Good that NABARD sees the wisdom of this. As always, they are a step ahead.



Kim Wilson
Faculty, Fletcher School, Tufts University (617-763-2469)
Kimberley.Wilson@...




________________________________


From: Malcolm Harper <malcolm.harper@...>
To: MicrofinancePractice@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Tuesday, February 21, 2012 7:20 AM
Subject: Re: [MFP] A Challenge







Jeff, and all,



Well timed, I just now came from a rather useful one-day meeting with NABARD, various banks, NGOs, the regulator and so
on to discuss the next 20 years of SHGs. Starting next weekend as it happens, the first 20 years end on 26th February, the anniversary of the circular which allowed banks to lend to them.



Let's see what emerges, but there will for sure be emphasis on individual savings, in the banks, and some other good things. MFIs were hardly mentioned, they came and more or less went during the period.



Malcolm



----- Original Message -----

From: _ <mailto:jaashe@...>

To: MicrofinancePractice@yahoogroups.com

Sent: Tuesday, February 21, 2012 1:20 AM

Subject: Re: [MFP] A Challenge





REVISED



Dear Brett, Malcolm, Prabat, Garrett,

I have been following this exchange with great interest. Prabatt I enjoyed reading your assessment of the first Savings Group conference held at Tufts. I recently returned from the second conference, one much more oriented to practitioners, held in Arusha, Tanzania with representatives from 46 countries. There are currently more than 6,000,000 Savings Group members, most of these in Africa but with growing number in Asia and Latin America underscoring the universality of this approach. Savings Groups are much like the Self Help Groups of India before they are linked to bank credit through the Self Help Group Bank Linkage program. There are between 80 and 100 million SHG members in India making SHGs by far the largest financial inclusion movement in the world.

The great strength of both Savings Groups and SHGs is that they are the right size - 15 to 30 members. The transactions that occur only during the meetings are observed by all the members. SACCOS and the smaller credit unions can work well but as the size of the membership increases beyond 75 or so the transparency that is the hallmark of Savings Groups as well as the need for much more sophisticated record keeping often overwhelms their capacity. There are two sizes of institutions that work well - small SGs and SHGs and larger credit unions, banks and MFIs where there is sufficient capacity and oversight to insure that they work well.

I believe that the greatest potential for financial inclusion is though these smaller groups which, like credit unions, also encourage discipline and develop social capital, mobilize local savings, keep money circulating in the community and where all the profits return to the members.



Jeff

Jeffrey Ashe

Director of Community Finance

Oxfam America

---- Original Message ----
From: _ <jaashe@...>
To: MicrofinancePractice <MicrofinancePractice@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Mon, Feb 20, 2012 8:09 pm
Subject: Re: [MFP] A Challenge









---- Original Message ----
From: kendall <kendall@...>
To: MicrofinancePractice <MicrofinancePractice@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Thu, Feb 16, 2012 6:20 pm
Subject: Re: [MFP] A Challenge



Brett,

I agree with you completely. I started working in the credit union industry when I was 13 yrs old in Hawaii. My father was one on the founders of the Hawaii movement in the late 1940's and 50's. As a PC volunteer in credit union development in Panama and Senegal, I've seen how hard it is to establish good CU's in Africa and South America Vs the Western World. illiteracy, low population rural locations, spending 10 yrs building savings before there were enough funds for lending, French culture that never developed cooperatives in most of France, etc. All contributed to the problems. We sent all our extension agents to Canada for training at Desjardins.

When I returned to the US, I managed a well established company credit union in CA for 10 yrs.

Ten years ago, a group of partners and I started a private MFI in Honduras. It's taken a full 10 yrs to establish a rock solid company. We are just now being certified for Central Bank regulation. A 3-yr program. We can then start to capture savings and not have to 100 percent rely upon private equity and debt equity which carry high costs.

As I follow this discussion, I'll jump in every now and then with comments on similarities and differences in running the 2 kinds of institutions.

Thanks for starting this discussion.


Dr Kendall Mau, MBA, DBA
Prisma de Honduras

Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile


________________________________


From: "bretthudsonmatthews" <brett@...>

Sender: MicrofinancePractice@yahoogroups.com

Date: Thu, 16 Feb 2012 21:38:19 -0000

To: <MicrofinancePractice@yahoogroups.com>

ReplyTo: MicrofinancePractice@yahoogroups.com

Subject: Re: [MFP] A Challenge





Hi Garrett

Sorry, but I can't agree with you that `the debate is over'. Credit unions work very well in my country (Canada) and in most of the West, but they have manifestly failed in many parts of the developing world. They have manifestly succeeded better in urban areas than in rural areas. They often fall victim to elite capture and corruption. Federations secure monopolies and abuse them. While I sympathize greatly with credit union practitioners, I feel that we need to own our problems. If credit unions were such an extraordinary success story everywhere, if the debate were in fact `over', we would have already achieved financial inclusion. Instead, most immigrants from the developing world arriving in my country will choose a bank over a credit union, based on experience in their home countries. How is the debate `over'?

We do need conferences and discussions. Why is it that credit unions, after succeeding in many parts of Europe and America, did not transpant nearly as successfully in many parts of the developing world? Why it is that even in Europe they worked better in some countries (e.g. Germany) than in others (e.g. England)? What makes them work better in some contexts than others? Are some countries (e.g. India) ready now, based on a learning process that has emerged from their difficult past experiences? What is the role of literacy in maintaining the transparency and accountability needed for citizenship in a credit union? Why do we even need SHGs and VSLAs, if credit unions are so good? How do the roles of these various players overlap and complement each other, or it all wasteful duplication? The emergence of behavioral economics and the increasingly insightful analyses of how cooperation emerges, how trust is sustained and how institutions are built, should be of enormous interest to anyone who wants to savings-led models to realize their full potential.

It is indeed unfortunate (though not a crime!) that we have so little to say.

I know SHGs well, and most (with some shining exceptions) are not savings-led. They don't even test their own savings balances; savings transactions is tracked on a running account basis with no balancing. How can we call such a practice savings-led? It leads to tragedy, not to accumulation. I would love to see a conference on how to transform SHGs into the powerful, community-based, saving-led financial intermediaries they really could be. But I think credit unionists would rather retreat into a shell of their own than publicly ask the hard questions. And judging from other comments on this board, SHG advocates seem to be going in the same direction.

It's very easy to blame the other side for the current situation. But that isn't going to put poverty in museums. In fact, that attitude is precisely what will perpetuate it. Whether we like it or not, as practitioners our job is to be stewards of the future financial aspirations of poor people. I cannot be negative; I have no right. Stopping the talk is not good stewardship; it abandons stewardship. And in the silence, poor people continue to struggle on their own.

Brett

--- In MicrofinancePractice@yahoogroups.com <mailto:MicrofinancePractice%40yahoogroups.com> , Garrett Wyse <garrettwyse@...> wrote:
>
> Brett,
>
> It seems as if it is unacceptable to talk about it, because we would not
> have much to say. And this seems to be the crime.
>
> The debate is over. A savings led approach to delivering financial
> services is generally accepted as being the way to go, but it is not as
> profitable or as 'sexy' as the many variations.
>
> There would be no more justification for conferences, seminars, new
> research, new courses, new investment 'products' for developed nation
> institutional investors (NGO's, national aid and development programmes,
> international banks), i.e. the poeple who have a stake not in solving the
> problem but in teasing it out, and making money from it, while being able
> to sleep comfortably on well padded pillows.
>
> Credit unions work, ask the three quarters of Irish people who use them
> (and no bubbles from their loans), SHG's work, ask the millions of Indian
> poeple who use their services.
>
> So the thinking is over, the debate is over.
>
> However the merrygoround would have to stop is we accpet this, and we cant
> have that can we?
>
> Dave Richardson has for years been banging the credit union drum on this
> forum, he must be sick of reading and writing the same stuff, that the
> debate is over, science and sense have come out on top, savings led
> approaches work, simple.
>
> I myself have just about stopped, you just feel that you are shouting into
> an empty vessel.
> If you are not sying what people want to hear then they do not hear.
>
> However as ever more millions get access to more mainstream, demanded
> financial services then what does it matter what daft professors are
> talking to each other about.
> How about we put them all in a room and leave them there to talk to each
> other debating the finer points of ridiculous nuaces.
>
> Does anyone want to listen to their empty rhetoric anymore?, not I for
> one.
>
> Sorry to sound negative, but the self-interest of the few at the top, seems
> to hold sway over the life and work experiences and education of millions
> of people actully on the ground and their lives are infinitely more
> important to them than those they proclaim to serve.
>
> Garrett
>
>
>
>
> On 13 February 2012 16:57, Brett Hudson Matthews <brett@...> wrote:
>
> > **
> >
> >
> > Dear All:****
> >
> > ** **
> >
> > I have been working in microfinance for 12 years. My goal is to fight
> > poverty. This requires that we deliver safe, flexible savings as well as
> > loans. Before that I worked in credit union for 8 years. This credit union
> > was a member-owned bank with 50,000 members that was and continues to be,
> > consistently profitable and more inclusive than the commercial banks in my
> > city of Toronto. ****
> >
> > ** **
> >
> > I remember discussing with my friends at the Calmeadow Foundation, not far
> > from our office, the strange disconnect between the mainstream of
> > microcredit and the credit union world. These worlds seemed not to talk to
> > each other, and not to learn from each other. I greatly admire people from
> > both sides of this strange divide, and they have so much in common.
> > Raiffeisen, the first credit union pioneer, writes in his history of the
> > German credit union movement that the primary goal was to free the poor
> > rural farmer from the village moneylender. Desjardins, the North American
> > pioneer, was inspired to act by a horrific example of moneylender abuse
> > reported in Canada's parliament, and upheld by a local Canadian court. In
> > my mind, Dr. Yunus a great inheritor of a great tradition – but this is not
> > the way the matter is seen by my friends on either side of this divide.
> > Instead, both marginalize the other and ignore their work.****
> >
> > ** **
> >
> > Personally, I carry no ideological baggage. I was inspired by a personal
> > discussion with Dr. Yunus to work for a financial institution, and the
> > credit union seemed small enough to let me get a good handle on practice
> > fairly quickly. I am not interested in an ideological debate, though I know
> > that that is how this matter is too often framed by practitioners and
> > experts. Ideology in this case generates far more heat than light, and is a
> > waste of everyone's valuable time. ****
> >
> > ** **
> >
> > I am interested – like Dr. Yunus, like Desjardins and like Raiffeisen – in
> > fighting poverty, and I am seeking practical solutions. It is a historical
> > fact that credit unions delivered safe, flexible savings as well as
> > microcredit – often for periods of much longer than 1 year -- to 2 million
> > rural German households by 1900. That system spread to countries across
> > Europe in the second half of the 19th century, putting in place the
> > preconditions for the modern European cooperative banking system. ****
> >
> > ** **
> >
> > Given that rural financial inclusion is our largest problem in modern
> > microfinance, I challenge the readers here to tell me why it is considered
> > unacceptable to discuss how Raiffeisen did it? I challenge readers here to
> > explain to me – if they can – why a system that worked all over the
> > developed West a century ago is of no analytical or practical interest in
> > teaching us how to overcome the challenges of financial inclusion in the
> > developing world today? ****
> >
> > ** **
> >
> > I have posted a blog on this topic at
> > http://villagefinance.net/2012/02/13/the-first-wave-of-microfinance/.****
> >
> > ** **
> >
> > Best regards,****
> >
> > ** **
> >
> > ** **
> >
> > Brett ****
> >
> > ** **
> >
> > ** **
> >
> > Brett Hudson Matthews****
> >
> > Managing Partner | Village Finance****
> >
> > *Mathwood Consulting Company*
> >
> > 242 Gainsborough Road****
> >
> > Toronto, CANADA M4L 3C6****
> >
> > ** **
> >
> > brett@...****
> >
> > (416) 420 1096****
> >
> > ** **
> >
> > www.villagefinance.net****
> >
> > *Re-inventing village finance!*
> >
> > ** **
> >
> >
> >
>
>
>
> --
> Garrett Wyse
> 00-353-87-6536002
>




1c.

Re: A Challenge

Posted by: "Kim Wilson" orientrow@...   orientrow

Tue Feb 21, 2012 7:17 pm (PST)



Thank you, Malcolm. 

It sounds as if you are with NABARD now in these moments of celebration. Hats off to them and to you, since you helped start this all. 

It does not matter that they have not added a product for 20 years. Most ASCA products on offer 'round the world are very simple and follow a cookie-cutter approach developed decades ago. So adding a simplistic credit piece is not a bad thing. 

The BRAC model is very interesting. So is the Trickle-Up model. I am huge fans of both, but who would absorb the costs? If it is NABARD, I think that is a bad idea. I can only imagine what wide government subsidy would do to these self-forming, NGO-forming, or government forming groups and their "add-ons". I am thinking SGSY writ large. Perhaps more appetizing would be for NABARD to focus on helping with individual accounts of all kinds. How might NABARD spread the word of the many products that India has to offer? 
 
Kim

________________________________
From: Malcolm Harper <malcolm.harper@...>
To: MicrofinancePractice@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Tuesday, February 21, 2012 9:48 AM
Subject: Re: [MFP] A Challenge


 

Thanks Kim, let's hope the results will inspire..... But I
referred at s
ome length to the Savings Group Movement (can we call it that, and
avoid brand names ?) when we discussed the need for better records, for better
mechanisms to avoid damaging disputes, and for banks to have more reliable
information on which to base lending decisions.
 
I rather doubt though that NABARD would pay for the
development of savings groups, unless perhaps one could find a community
which was entirely by-passed by bankers and hence SHGs. I'd be fascinated
by some such experiment, perhaps formalising and insh'allah improving (not
easy) something like the groups in the North East in our book, or, better,
reaching way down to very poor people, who don't often get into SHGs.
 
In that context I suggested that they might try a BRAC or
Bandhan type TUP, but ending in an SHG not an MFI. Maybe savings groups could be
part of that.
----- Original Message -----
>From: Kim Wilson
>To: MicrofinancePractice@yahoogroups.com
>Sent: Tuesday, February 21, 2012 1:07 PM
>Subject: Re: [MFP] A Challenge
>

>Dear Malcolm -
>
>
>Thank you for this inspiring update on NABARD. Nice that women will have the option of privacy of  individual accounts and I am assuming pension funds. 
>
>
>I agree with Jeff that these small groups really are a route to financial empowerment, an empowerment which can only fully express itself when a thoughtful range of long-term savings products are on offer. Please don't keep us in the savings group ghetto. 
>
>
>At the moment groups do not offer women privacy and except for the SHGs in India do not offer a chance at building long-term assets. I think that many male practitioners do not appreciate that women often want more than a year-long option to save. If given the chance, they might like a mortgage, or a chance to save for retirement. These products might require that solid financial institutions reach out to groups to serve individual members.  Good that NABARD sees the wisdom of this. As always, they are a step ahead.

>Kim Wilson
>Faculty, Fletcher School, Tufts
University (617-763-2469)
>Kimberley.Wilson@...
>
>
>
>________________________________
> From: Malcolm Harper <malcolm.harper@...>
>To: MicrofinancePractice@yahoogroups.com
>Sent: Tuesday, February 21, 2012 7:20 AM
>Subject: Re: [MFP] A Challenge
>
>

>

>
Jeff, and all,

>Well timed, I just now came from a rather useful one-day meeting with NABARD, various banks, NGOs, the regulator and so on to discuss the next 20 years of SHGs. Starting next weekend as it happens, the first 20 years end on 26th February, the anniversary of the circular which allowed banks to lend to them.

>Let's see what emerges, but there will for sure be emphasis on individual savings, in the banks, and some other good things. MFIs were hardly mentioned, they came and  more or less went during the period.

>Malcolm

>----- Original Message -----
>>From: _
>>To: MicrofinancePractice@yahoogroups.com
>>Sent: Tuesday, February 21, 2012 1:20 AM
>>Subject: Re: [MFP] A Challenge
>>
>> 
>>REVISED
>> 
>>Dear Brett, Malcolm, Prabat, Garrett,
>>I have been following this exchange with great interest. Prabatt I enjoyed reading your assessment of the first Savings Group conference held at Tufts. I recently returned from the second conference, one much more oriented to practitioners, held in Arusha, Tanzania with representatives from 46 countries. There are currently more than 6,000,000 Savings Group members, most of these in Africa but with growing number in Asia and Latin America underscoring the universality of this approach. Savings Groups are much like the Self Help Groups of India before they are linked to bank credit through the Self Help Group Bank Linkage program. There are between 80 and 100 million SHG members in India making SHGs by far the largest financial inclusion movement in the world.  
>>The great strength of both Savings Groups and SHGs is that they are the right size - 15 to 30 members. The transactions that occur only during the meetings are observed by all the members. SACCOS and the smaller credit unions can work well but as the size of the membership increases beyond 75 or so the transparency that is the hallmark of Savings Groups as well as the need for much more sophisticated record keeping often overwhelms their capacity. There are two sizes of institutions that work well - small SGs and SHGs and larger credit unions, banks and MFIs where there is sufficient capacity and oversight to insure that they work well.
>>I believe that the greatest potential for financial inclusion is though these smaller groups which, like credit unions, also encourage discipline and develop social capital, mobilize local savings, keep money circulating in the community and where all the profits return to the members.
>> 
>>Jeff
>>Jeffrey Ashe
>>Director of Community Finance
>>Oxfam America
>>---- Original Message ----
>>From: _ <jaashe@...>
>>To:
MicrofinancePractice <MicrofinancePractice@yahoogroups.com>
>>Sent:
Mon, Feb 20, 2012 8:09 pm
>>Subject: Re: [MFP] A Challenge
>>
>>
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>>---- Original Message ----
>>From: kendall <kendall@...>
>>To:
MicrofinancePractice <MicrofinancePractice@yahoogroups.com>
>>Sent:
Thu, Feb 16, 2012 6:20 pm
>>Subject: Re: [MFP] A Challenge
>>
>>
>> 
>>Brett,
>>
>>I agree with you completely. I started working in the
credit union industry when I was 13 yrs old in Hawaii. My father was one on
the founders of the Hawaii movement in the late 1940's and 50's. As a PC
volunteer in credit union development in Panama and Senegal, I've seen how
hard it is to establish good CU's in Africa and South America Vs the Western
World. illiteracy, low population rural locations, spending 10 yrs building
savings before there were enough funds for lending, French culture that
never developed cooperatives in most of France, etc. All contributed to the
problems. We sent all our extension agents to Canada for training at
Desjardins.
>>
>>When I returned to the US, I managed a well established
company credit union in CA for 10 yrs.
>>
>>Ten years ago, a group of
partners and I started a private MFI in Honduras. It's taken a full 10 yrs
to establish a rock solid company. We are just now being certified for
Central Bank regulation. A 3-yr program. We can then start to capture
savings and not have to 100 percent rely upon private equity and debt equity
which carry high costs.
>>
>>As I follow this discussion, I'll jump in
every now and then with comments on similarities and differences in running
the 2 kinds of institutions.
>>
>>Thanks for starting this discussion.
>>
>>
>>Dr Kendall Mau, MBA, DBA
>>Prisma de Honduras
>>
>>
>>Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile
>>________________________________
>>
>>From: "bretthudsonmatthews" <brett@...>
>>Sender: MicrofinancePractice@yahoogroups.com
>>Date: Thu, 16 Feb 2012 21:38:19 -0000
>>To: <MicrofinancePractice@yahoogroups.com>
>>ReplyTo: MicrofinancePractice@yahoogroups.com
>>Subject: Re: [MFP] A Challenge
>>
>> 
>>Hi Garrett
>>
>>Sorry, but I can't agree with you that `the debate is
over'. Credit unions work very well in my country (Canada) and in most of
the West, but they have manifestly failed in many parts of the developing
world. They have manifestly succeeded better in urban areas than in rural
areas. They often fall victim to elite capture and corruption. Federations
secure monopolies and abuse them. While I sympathize greatly with credit
union practitioners, I feel that we need to own our problems. If credit
unions were such an extraordinary success story everywhere, if the debate
were in fact `over', we would have already achieved financial inclusion.
Instead, most immigrants from the developing world arriving in my country
will choose a bank over a credit union, based on experience in their home
countries. How is the debate `over'?
>>
>>We do need conferences and
discussions. Why is it that credit unions, after succeeding in many parts of
Europe and America, did not transpant nearly as successfully in many parts
of the developing world? Why it is that even in Europe they worked better in
some countries (e.g. Germany) than in others (e.g. England)? What makes them
work better in some contexts than others? Are some countries (e.g. India)
ready now, based on a learning process that has emerged from their difficult
past experiences? What is the role of literacy in maintaining the
transparency and accountability needed for citizenship in a credit union?
Why do we even need SHGs and VSLAs, if credit unions are so good? How do the
roles of these various players overlap and complement each other, or it all
wasteful duplication? The emergence of behavioral economics and the
increasingly insightful analyses of how cooperation emerges, how trust is
sustained and how institutions are built, should be of enormous interest to
anyone who wants to savings-led models to realize their full
potential.
>>
>>It is indeed unfortunate (though not a crime!) that we
have so little to say.
>>
>>I know SHGs well, and most (with some shining
exceptions) are not savings-led. They don't even test their own savings
balances; savings transactions is tracked on a running account basis with no
balancing. How can we call such a practice savings-led? It leads to tragedy,
not to accumulation. I would love to see a conference on how to transform
SHGs into the powerful, community-based, saving-led financial intermediaries
they really could be. But I think credit unionists would rather retreat into
a shell of their own than publicly ask the hard questions. And judging from
other comments on this board, SHG advocates seem to be going in the same
direction.
>>
>>It's very easy to blame the other side for the current
situation. But that isn't going to put poverty in museums. In fact, that
attitude is precisely what will perpetuate it. Whether we like it or not, as
practitioners our job is to be stewards of the future financial aspirations
of poor people. I cannot be negative; I have no right. Stopping the talk is
not good stewardship; it abandons stewardship. And in the silence, poor
people continue to struggle on their own.
>>
>>Brett
>>
>>--- In MicrofinancePractice@yahoogroups.com, Garrett Wyse <garrettwyse@...> wrote:
>>>
>>> Brett,
>>>
>>> It seems as if it is unacceptable to talk about it, because we
would not
>>> have much to say. And this seems to be the crime.
>>>
>>> The debate is over. A savings led approach to delivering
financial
>>> services is generally accepted as being the way to go, but
it is not as
>>> profitable or as 'sexy' as the many variations.
>>>
>>> There would be no more justification for conferences, seminars,
new
>>> research, new courses, new investment 'products' for developed
nation
>>> institutional investors (NGO's, national aid and development
programmes,
>>> international banks), i.e. the poeple who have a stake
not in solving the
>>> problem but in teasing it out, and making money
from it, while being able
>>> to sleep comfortably on well padded
pillows.
>>>
>>> Credit unions work, ask the three quarters of
Irish people who use them
>>> (and no bubbles from their loans), SHG's
work, ask the millions of Indian
>>> poeple who use their
services.
>>>
>>> So the thinking is over, the debate is
over.
>>>
>>> However the merrygoround would have to stop is we
accpet this, and we cant
>>> have that can we?
>>>
>>> Dave
Richardson has for years been banging the credit union drum on this
>>>
forum, he must be sick of reading and writing the same stuff, that
the
>>> debate is over, science and sense have come out on top, savings
led
>>> approaches work, simple.
>>>
>>> I myself have just
about stopped, you just feel that you are shouting into
>>> an empty
vessel.
>>> If you are not sying what people want to hear then they do
not hear.
>>>
>>> However as ever more millions get access to more
mainstream, demanded
>>> financial services then what does it matter
what daft professors are
>>> talking to each other about.
>>> How
about we put them all in a room and leave them there to talk to each
>>>
other debating the finer points of ridiculous nuaces.
>>>
>>> Does
anyone want to listen to their empty rhetoric anymore?, not I for
>>>
one.
>>>
>>> Sorry to sound negative, but the self-interest of the
few at the top, seems
>>> to hold sway over the life and work
experiences and education of millions
>>> of people actully on the
ground and their lives are infinitely more
>>> important to them than
those they proclaim to serve.
>>>
>>> Garrett
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> On 13 February 2012 16:57, Brett Hudson Matthews
<brett@...> wrote:
>>>
>>> > **
>>> >
>>>
>
>>> > Dear All:****
>>> >
>>> > ** **
>>>
>
>>> > I have been working in microfinance for 12 years. My goal
is to fight
>>> > poverty. This requires that we deliver safe,
flexible savings as well as
>>> > loans. Before that I worked in
credit union for 8 years. This credit union
>>> > was a member-owned
bank with 50,000 members that was and continues to be,
>>> >
consistently profitable and more inclusive than the commercial banks in
my
>>> > city of Toronto. ****
>>> >
>>> > **
**
>>> >
>>> > I remember discussing with my friends at the
Calmeadow Foundation, not far
>>> > from our office, the strange
disconnect between the mainstream of
>>> > microcredit and the credit
union world. These worlds seemed not to talk to
>>> > each other, and
not to learn from each other. I greatly admire people from
>>> > both
sides of this strange divide, and they have so much in common.
>>> >
Raiffeisen, the first credit union pioneer, writes in his history of
the
>>> > German credit union movement that the primary goal was to
free the poor
>>> > rural farmer from the village moneylender.
Desjardins, the North American
>>> > pioneer, was inspired to act by
a horrific example of moneylender abuse
>>> > reported in Canada's
parliament, and upheld by a local Canadian court. In
>>> > my mind,
Dr. Yunus a great inheritor of a great tradition – but this is not
>>>
> the way the matter is seen by my friends on either side of this
divide.
>>> > Instead, both marginalize the other and ignore their
work.****
>>> >
>>> > ** **
>>> >
>>> >
Personally, I carry no ideological baggage. I was inspired by a
personal
>>> > discussion with Dr. Yunus to work for a financial
institution, and the
>>> > credit union seemed small enough to let me
get a good handle on practice
>>> > fairly quickly. I am not
interested in an ideological debate, though I know
>>> > that that is
how this matter is too often framed by practitioners and
>>> >
experts. Ideology in this case generates far more heat than light, and is
a
>>> > waste of everyone's valuable time. ****
>>> >
>>>
> ** **
>>> >
>>> > I am interested – like Dr. Yunus, like
Desjardins and like Raiffeisen – in
>>> > fighting poverty, and I am
seeking practical solutions. It is a historical
>>> > fact that
credit unions delivered safe, flexible savings as well as
>>> >
microcredit – often for periods of much longer than 1 year -- to 2
million
>>> > rural German households by 1900. That system spread to
countries across
>>> > Europe in the second half of the 19th century,
putting in place the
>>> > preconditions for the modern European
cooperative banking system. ****
>>> >
>>> > ** **
>>>
>
>>> > Given that rural financial inclusion is our largest
problem in modern
>>> > microfinance, I challenge the readers here to
tell me why it is considered
>>> > unacceptable to discuss how
Raiffeisen did it? I challenge readers here to
>>> > explain to me –
if they can – why a system that worked all over the
>>> > developed
West a century ago is of no analytical or practical interest in
>>> >
teaching us how to overcome the challenges of financial inclusion in
the
>>> > developing world today? ****
>>> >
>>> > **
**
>>> >
>>> > I have posted a blog on this topic at
>>>
> http://villagefinance.net/2012/02/13/the-first-wave-of-microfinance/.****
>>>
>
>>> > ** **
>>> >
>>> > Best regards,****
>>>
>
>>> > ** **
>>> >
>>> > ** **
>>> >
>>>
> Brett ****
>>> >
>>> > ** **
>>> >
>>> > **
**
>>> >
>>> > Brett Hudson Matthews****
>>> >
>>>
> Managing Partner | Village Finance****
>>> >
>>> >
*Mathwood Consulting Company*
>>> >
>>> > 242 Gainsborough
Road****
>>> >
>>> > Toronto, CANADA M4L 3C6****
>>>
>
>>> > ** **
>>> >
>>> > brett@...****
>>>
>
>>> > (416) 420 1096****
>>> >
>>> > ** **
>>>
>
>>> > www.villagefinance.net****
>>> >
>>> >
*Re-inventing village finance!*
>>> >
>>> > ** **
>>>
>
>>> >
>>> >
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> --
>>> Garrett Wyse
>>>
00-353-87-6536002
>>>
>>
>>
>
>

1d.

Re: A Challenge

Posted by: "bretthudsonmatthews" brett@...   bretthudsonmatthews

Wed Feb 22, 2012 3:54 am (PST)



It would appear that Raiffeisen has been entirely lost in the mists at the beginning of this thread. However, this seems to be a timely moment to remind participants here of the case I am making.

Jeff states below that "There are two sizes of institutions that work well - small SGs and SHGs and larger credit unions, banks and MFIs where there is sufficient capacity and oversight to insure that they work well." This appears to have become modern doctrine, as has its corollary -- that there is no path of institutional evolution that leads from 'small' to 'larger'. We can link the two, but it is impossible for the first to evolve into the second.

Raiffeisen of course, faced the same problem. The average size of the 'village banks' in rural Germany in the 19th Century was about 60-100 members, with very few getting much larger. This was a matter of policy for the Raiffeisen movement. (The Italian casse rurali, following close on the heels of their German cousins, were even smaller, typically < 60 members). Cooperative banks in Germany today have millions of members, and they evolved from these roots through a bottom-up process. I explain how here. http://savings-revolution.org/blog/2011/4/6/crossing-a-wild-ocean.html

The saddest aspect of this is that in the past two decades enormous sums of money, human energy and hope have been frittered away testing various 'federating' models in both the SHG and VSLA worlds with very little to show for them.

During most of the time I worked in Cambodia no moto driver would be caught dead with a functioning rear-view mirror on their bike. Used bikes were imported into the country and then the rear-view mirrors removed before sale (this has changed in recent years, mercifully). It is microfinance 'experts' driving without a rear-view mirror -- not poor people -- who are causing these federating failures. I am reminded of Dr. Yunus' wonderful comment: "Poor people always pay back their loans. It's us, the creators of institutions and rules, who keep making trouble for them."

Brett

--- In MicrofinancePractice@yahoogroups.com, _ <jaashe@...> wrote:
>
>
> REVISED
>
> Dear Brett, Malcolm, Prabat, Garrett,
>
> I have been following this exchange with great interest. Prabatt I enjoyed reading your assessment of the first Savings Group conference held at Tufts. I recently returned from the second conference, one much more oriented to practitioners, held in Arusha, Tanzania with representatives from 46 countries. There are currently more than 6,000,000 Savings Group members, most of these in Africa but with growing number in Asia and Latin America underscoring the universality of this approach. Savings Groups are much like the Self Help Groups of India before they are linked to bank credit through the Self Help Group Bank Linkage program. There are between 80 and 100 million SHG members in India making SHGs by far the largest financial inclusion movement in the world.
>
> The great strength of both Savings Groups and SHGs is that they are the right size - 15 to 30 members. The transactions that occur only during the meetings are observed by all the members. SACCOS and the smaller credit unions can work well but as the size of the membership increases beyond 75 or so the transparency that is the hallmark of Savings Groups as well as the need for much more sophisticated record keeping often overwhelms their capacity. There are two sizes of institutions that work well - small SGs and SHGs and larger credit unions, banks and MFIs where there is sufficient capacity and oversight to insure that they work well.
>
> I believe that the greatest potential for financial inclusion is though these smaller groups which, like credit unions, also encourage discipline and develop social capital, mobilize local savings, keep money circulating in the community and where all the profits return to the members.
>
>
>
>
> Jeff
>
> Jeffrey Ashe
> Director of Community Finance
> Oxfam America
>
>
>
>
>
> ---- Original Message ----
> From: _ <jaashe@...>
> To: MicrofinancePractice <MicrofinancePractice@yahoogroups.com>
> Sent: Mon, Feb 20, 2012 8:09 pm
> Subject: Re: [MFP] A Challenge
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> ---- Original Message ----
> From: kendall <kendall@...>
> To: MicrofinancePractice <MicrofinancePractice@yahoogroups.com>
> Sent: Thu, Feb 16, 2012 6:20 pm
> Subject: Re: [MFP] A Challenge
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Brett,
>
> I agree with you completely. I started working in the credit union industry when I was 13 yrs old in Hawaii. My father was one on the founders of the Hawaii movement in the late 1940's and 50's. As a PC volunteer in credit union development in Panama and Senegal, I've seen how hard it is to establish good CU's in Africa and South America Vs the Western World. illiteracy, low population rural locations, spending 10 yrs building savings before there were enough funds for lending, French culture that never developed cooperatives in most of France, etc. All contributed to the problems. We sent all our extension agents to Canada for training at Desjardins.
>
> When I returned to the US, I managed a well established company credit union in CA for 10 yrs.
>
> Ten years ago, a group of partners and I started a private MFI in Honduras. It's taken a full 10 yrs to establish a rock solid company. We are just now being certified for Central Bank regulation. A 3-yr program. We can then start to capture savings and not have to 100 percent rely upon private equity and debt equity which carry high costs.
>
> As I follow this discussion, I'll jump in every now and then with comments on similarities and differences in running the 2 kinds of institutions.
>
> Thanks for starting this discussion.
>
>
> Dr Kendall Mau, MBA, DBA
> Prisma de Honduras
>
>
> Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile
>
> From: "bretthudsonmatthews" <brett@...>
> Sender: MicrofinancePractice@yahoogroups.com
> Date: Thu, 16 Feb 2012 21:38:19 -0000
> To: <MicrofinancePractice@yahoogroups.com>
> ReplyTo: MicrofinancePractice@yahoogroups.com
> Subject: Re: [MFP] A Challenge
>
>
>
>
> Hi Garrett
>
> Sorry, but I can't agree with you that `the debate is over'. Credit unions work very well in my country (Canada) and in most of the West, but they have manifestly failed in many parts of the developing world. They have manifestly succeeded better in urban areas than in rural areas. They often fall victim to elite capture and corruption. Federations secure monopolies and abuse them. While I sympathize greatly with credit union practitioners, I feel that we need to own our problems. If credit unions were such an extraordinary success story everywhere, if the debate were in fact `over', we would have already achieved financial inclusion. Instead, most immigrants from the developing world arriving in my country will choose a bank over a credit union, based on experience in their home countries. How is the debate `over'?
>
> We do need conferences and discussions. Why is it that credit unions, after succeeding in many parts of Europe and America, did not transpant nearly as successfully in many parts of the developing world? Why it is that even in Europe they worked better in some countries (e.g. Germany) than in others (e.g. England)? What makes them work better in some contexts than others? Are some countries (e.g. India) ready now, based on a learning process that has emerged from their difficult past experiences? What is the role of literacy in maintaining the transparency and accountability needed for citizenship in a credit union? Why do we even need SHGs and VSLAs, if credit unions are so good? How do the roles of these various players overlap and complement each other, or it all wasteful duplication? The emergence of behavioral economics and the increasingly insightful analyses of how cooperation emerges, how trust is sustained and how institutions are built, should be of enormous interest to anyone who wants to savings-led models to realize their full potential.
>
> It is indeed unfortunate (though not a crime!) that we have so little to say.
>
> I know SHGs well, and most (with some shining exceptions) are not savings-led. They don't even test their own savings balances; savings transactions is tracked on a running account basis with no balancing. How can we call such a practice savings-led? It leads to tragedy, not to accumulation. I would love to see a conference on how to transform SHGs into the powerful, community-based, saving-led financial intermediaries they really could be. But I think credit unionists would rather retreat into a shell of their own than publicly ask the hard questions. And judging from other comments on this board, SHG advocates seem to be going in the same direction.
>
> It's very easy to blame the other side for the current situation. But that isn't going to put poverty in museums. In fact, that attitude is precisely what will perpetuate it. Whether we like it or not, as practitioners our job is to be stewards of the future financial aspirations of poor people. I cannot be negative; I have no right. Stopping the talk is not good stewardship; it abandons stewardship. And in the silence, poor people continue to struggle on their own.
>
> Brett
>
> --- In MicrofinancePractice@yahoogroups.com, Garrett Wyse <garrettwyse@> wrote:
> >
> > Brett,
> >
> > It seems as if it is unacceptable to talk about it, because we would not
> > have much to say. And this seems to be the crime.
> >
> > The debate is over. A savings led approach to delivering financial
> > services is generally accepted as being the way to go, but it is not as
> > profitable or as 'sexy' as the many variations.
> >
> > There would be no more justification for conferences, seminars, new
> > research, new courses, new investment 'products' for developed nation
> > institutional investors (NGO's, national aid and development programmes,
> > international banks), i.e. the poeple who have a stake not in solving the
> > problem but in teasing it out, and making money from it, while being able
> > to sleep comfortably on well padded pillows.
> >
> > Credit unions work, ask the three quarters of Irish people who use them
> > (and no bubbles from their loans), SHG's work, ask the millions of Indian
> > poeple who use their services.
> >
> > So the thinking is over, the debate is over.
> >
> > However the merrygoround would have to stop is we accpet this, and we cant
> > have that can we?
> >
> > Dave Richardson has for years been banging the credit union drum on this
> > forum, he must be sick of reading and writing the same stuff, that the
> > debate is over, science and sense have come out on top, savings led
> > approaches work, simple.
> >
> > I myself have just about stopped, you just feel that you are shouting into
> > an empty vessel.
> > If you are not sying what people want to hear then they do not hear.
> >
> > However as ever more millions get access to more mainstream, demanded
> > financial services then what does it matter what daft professors are
> > talking to each other about.
> > How about we put them all in a room and leave them there to talk to each
> > other debating the finer points of ridiculous nuaces.
> >
> > Does anyone want to listen to their empty rhetoric anymore?, not I for
> > one.
> >
> > Sorry to sound negative, but the self-interest of the few at the top, seems
> > to hold sway over the life and work experiences and education of millions
> > of people actully on the ground and their lives are infinitely more
> > important to them than those they proclaim to serve.
> >
> > Garrett
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > On 13 February 2012 16:57, Brett Hudson Matthews <brett@> wrote:
> >
> > > **
> > >
> > >
> > > Dear All:****
> > >
> > > ** **
> > >
> > > I have been working in microfinance for 12 years. My goal is to fight
> > > poverty. This requires that we deliver safe, flexible savings as well as
> > > loans. Before that I worked in credit union for 8 years. This credit union
> > > was a member-owned bank with 50,000 members that was and continues to be,
> > > consistently profitable and more inclusive than the commercial banks in my
> > > city of Toronto. ****
> > >
> > > ** **
> > >
> > > I remember discussing with my friends at the Calmeadow Foundation, not far
> > > from our office, the strange disconnect between the mainstream of
> > > microcredit and the credit union world. These worlds seemed not to talk to
> > > each other, and not to learn from each other. I greatly admire people from
> > > both sides of this strange divide, and they have so much in common.
> > > Raiffeisen, the first credit union pioneer, writes in his history of the
> > > German credit union movement that the primary goal was to free the poor
> > > rural farmer from the village moneylender. Desjardins, the North American
> > > pioneer, was inspired to act by a horrific example of moneylender abuse
> > > reported in Canada's parliament, and upheld by a local Canadian court. In
> > > my mind, Dr. Yunus a great inheritor of a great tradition â
€" but this is not
> > > the way the matter is seen by my friends on either side of this divide.
> > > Instead, both marginalize the other and ignore their work.****
> > >
> > > *
* **
> > >
> > > Personally, I carry no ideological baggage. I was inspired by a personal
> > > discussion with Dr. Yunus to work for a financial institution, and the
> > > credit union seemed small enough to let me get a good handle on practice
> > > fairly quickly. I am not interested in an ideological debate, though I know
> > > that that is how this matter is too often framed by practitioners and
> > > experts. Ideology in this case generates far more heat than light, and is a
> > > waste of everyone's valuable time. ****
> > >
> > > ** **
> > >
> > > I am interested â
€" like Dr. Yunus, like Desjardins and like Raiffeisen â€" in
> > > fighting poverty, and I am seeking practical solutions. It is a historical
> > > fact that credit unions delivered safe,
flexible savings as well as
> > > microcredit â
€" often for periods of much longer than 1 year -- to 2 million
> > > rural German households by 1900. That system spread to countries across
> > > Europe in the second half of the 19th century, putting in pla
ce the
> > > preconditions for the modern European cooperative banking system. ****
> > >
> > > ** **
> > >
> > > Given that rural financial inclusion is our largest problem in modern
> > > microfinance, I challenge the readers here to tell me why it is considered
> > > unacceptable to discuss how Raiffeisen did it? I challenge readers here to
> > > explain to me â
€" if they can â€" why a system that worked all over the
> > > developed West a century ago is of no analytical or practical interest in
> > > te
aching us how to overcome the challenges of financial inclusion in the
> > > developing world today? ****
> > >
> > > ** **
> > >
> > > I have posted a blog on this topic at
> > > http://villagefinance.net/2012/02/13/the-first-wave-of-microfinance/.****
> > >
> > > ** **
> > >
> > > Best regards,****
> > >
> > > ** **
> > >
> > > ** **
> > >
> > > Brett ****
> > >
> > > ** **
> > >
> > > ** **
> > >
> > > Brett Hudson Matthews****
> > >
> > > Managing Partner | Village Finance****
> > >
> > > *Mathwood Consulting Company*
> > >
> > > 242 Gainsborough Road****
> > >
> > > Toronto, CANADA M4L 3C6****
> > >
> > > ** **
> > >
> > > brett@****
> > >
> > > (416) 420 1096****
> > >
> > > ** **
> > >
> > > www.villagefinance.net****
> > >
> > > *Re-inventing village finance!*
> > >
> > > ** **
> > >
> > >
> > >
> >
> >
> >
> > --
> > Garrett Wyse
> > 00-353-87-6536002
> >
>

2a.

Thanks

Posted by: "Ramesh S Arunachalam" r_arunachalam1@...

Wed Feb 22, 2012 12:00 am (PST)



Dear MFP members

I have finally moved on from Mf, livelihoods etc

I have refused several assignments during the last year and am clear I no longer want to be part of the industry that once was micro-finance!

A sincere thanks to many of you from whom I learnt a lot and especially through the discussions at this fora.

It is time to bid adieu now!

Good luck to all of you and Howard please unsubscibe me from the group

Thanks

Warm Regards

Ramesh

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#830 From: Getaneh Gobezie <getanehg2002@...>
Date: Sun Feb 26, 2012 6:18 am
Subject: Re: [MFP] New WEMANResources website genfinance section
getanehg2002
Send Email Send Email
 
Dear Linda,
 
Thank you for this resource, and linking up with important networks. .... Please note, however, that DevFinance network is unfortunately not currently active.
 
We hope that this would stimulate the discussion on gender + microfinance, building up on the MCS event in Spain. The Report (titled ''FINANCIAL SERVICES FOR GENDER JUSTICE) is critical, among others, on the Social Performance indicators, proposed by the SEAL of Excellence (built on SPTF & Smart campaign works), which have been lose on 'empowerment' and 'gender equality' issues, limiting the gender indicators only to access + use of finance by women! The key issue here is that only access + use of financial services by women can, at best, lead to the maintenance of basic survival and well-being (e.g:- proper nourishment, good health, adequate shelter, reasonable clothing, clean water, etc). However, confining the analysis of gender inequality to these 'achievements' alone serves to convey the impression that women's dis-empowerment is largely a mater of poverty! The Report pointed out that more work is needed to identify such indicators on empowerment and gender equality, highlighting on-going efforts to establish them through participatory ways with clients, which proved effective in parts of Africa, Asia and Latin America.
 
I am forwarding the Report on gender discussion and advocacy (attached again) also to the SPTF Gender group (in the CC) some of whom have been in the Summit but were not in the GENFINANCE-WEMAN Team discussion.... Also for the benefit of GENFINANCE-WEMAN Team, I am attaching the SPTF Gender group 'Position paper' which contains (pg 7) some of the gender indicators for further discussion. 
 
Note also that same critical issue has also been a point of discussion in the recent UN-Women 'Expert Group Meeting' on Economic Empowerment of women in Ghana (Sep 19-22, 2011).
 
 
I hope this helps, and look forward to hear from you.
 
Kind Regards,
 
Getaneh Gobezie

--- On Sat, 2/18/12, Linda Mayoux <l.mayoux@...> wrote:

From: Linda Mayoux <l.mayoux@...>
Subject: [MFP] New WEMANResources website genfinance section
To: genfinance@yahoogroups.com, "WEMANNetwork" <WEMANNetwork_English@yahoogroups.com>, weman_espanol@yahoogroups.com, "Sabina Gietema" <s.gietema@...>, "'Katja Koegler'" <Katja.Koegler@...>, gdiaz@..., sejaldand@..., rurizar@..., plumumba@..., irislanao@..., spait@..., crevilla@..., mzobeida@..., bleussink@..., zia@..., aliani_s@..., asma.ravji@..., arbeela.sahar@..., creamwestnile@..., shoukat.abro@..., salma.umme@..., getanehg2002@..., inafi.asia@..., seher.afsheen@..., dir.ndp.siraj@..., "'Bukonzo Joint Cooperative Micro Finance'" <bukonzojointcooperative@...>, MicrofinancePractice@yahoogroups.com, "Devfinance Listserve" <devfinance@...>
Date: Saturday, February 18, 2012, 11:45 AM

 

Dear colleagues,

 

I would like to announce the new genfinance section of a new website: WEMANResources http://www.wemanresources.info/Page3_GenderMainstreaming/3_5_Financial%20services/3_5_0_FinancialServices.html    This section has updated and replaced materials on genfinance, but can still be accessed through a holding page on www.genfinance.info

 

This new website is intended as the basis for discussion on strategies to promote gender justice through microfinance, as a follow up to the recent discussions at the MicroCredit Summit in Valladolid.

 

The discussions will continue to take place through the genfinance Yahoo group http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/genfinance/  which everyone is welcome to join (but please do give a brief description of your background to help our management). Our Spanish colleagues are invited to use the WEMANEspanol Yahoo weman_espanol@yahoogroups.com .

 

Particularly burning issues which emerged at the Summit were:

 

1)      Gender and the proposed Seal of Excellence

– what impact and/or process indicators are needed as the ‘minimum’ and what as most desirable in order to encourage MFIs to develop empowerment strategies.

-          What are the relative merits of gender mainstreaming in a general seal compared to promotion of a specific set of gender standards

 

2)      What further product innovations are out there eg pensions for women, products for asset building under women’s ownership, products for men which promote them to share assets and ownership more equally with women and take more responsibility for household well-being rather than overburdening women?

 

3)      What further innovations are there for women’s empowerment strategies which can have significant impact and also be sustainable?

 

4)      Are there any new examples of micro-finance as the basis for wider mobilisation of women and/or men for collective action on gender justice – eg land rights, political participation, gender-based violence etc

 

5)      What should be the main priorities for advocacy? In micro-finance networks? The regional MicroCredit Summits? With governments? With donor agencies?

 

6)      Are there any new training/capacity-building programmes on gender and micro-finance?

 

Please feel free also to raise any other issues you feel are important. And to invite any people you think will be interested. The discussion will continue until at least the middle of March to feed into a workshop on gender and microfinance with SDC in Berne.

 

I would be very grateful for any comments/suggestions for improvement of the webpages – they are an ongoing resource which will be updated as further materials become available.

 

Hoping to hear from you,

Linda

 

PS some of the other sections of the wemanresources website are still under construction but should be complete by end of March.


2 of 2 File(s)


#831 From: "Linda Mayoux" <l.mayoux@...>
Date: Sun Feb 26, 2012 10:34 am
Subject: RE: Please can I have comments and feedback for the final version of the discussion draft by end of Monday (tomorrow)
lindamayoux
Send Email Send Email
 

Thanks Getaneh for putting these processes together

 

The Discussion draft from the Summit is just a draft – I would very much welcome any comments before finalising it for circulation on Tuesday – in preparation for a gender and MF workshop with SDC and WWB in Berne. Including also some reference to the SPTF gender paper and the discussion in Ghana.

 

I will send the final version to everyone copied in this mail by Wednesday. And please can I encourage any of you who are interested to join the genfinance Yahoo group genfinance Yahoo group: http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/genfinance/

That is the best/easiest place for us to have ongoing discussions and any member can put up relevant files. Please also invite any of your colleagues to join.

 

It seems the MicroCredit summit will be organising an e-discussion with their membership, CGAP and others sometime end April/early May. It would be good to have all the relevant resources and/or links to other initiatives/differing perspectives easily available from WEMANResources by then, so we don’t keep reinventing the wheel and having the same discussions, but move significantly forward. And we need to have as many voices (including those who may not agree with the ‘WEMAN line’) involved in the discussion to have as much impact as we can.

 

Best wishes and looking forward to hearing from you,

Linda

 

From: WEMANNetwork_English@yahoogroups.com [mailto:WEMANNetwork_English@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of Getaneh Gobezie
Sent: 26 February 2012 06:18
To: genfinance@yahoogroups.com; WEMANNetwork; weman_espanol@yahoogroups.com; Sabina Gietema; 'Katja Koegler'; gdiaz@...; sejaldand@...; rurizar@...; plumumba@...; irislanao@...; spait@...; crevilla@...; mzobeida@...; bleussink@...; zia@...; aliani_s@...; asma.ravji@...; arbeela.sahar@...; creamwestnile@...; shoukat.abro@...; salma.umme@...; inafi.asia@...; seher.afsheen@...; dir.ndp.siraj@...; 'Bukonzo Joint Cooperative Micro Finance'; MicrofinancePractice@yahoogroups.com; Devfinance Listserve
Cc: Jaclyn Berfond; Amelia Greenberg; Amelia Greenberg 2; Anne Hastings; Caitlin Scott; Carmen Velasco; Carolina Benavides; Celina Kawas; Elizabeth Lynch; Ewa Bankowska; Frances Sinha; g.athmer@...; Getaneh Gobezie; Irina Aliaga Romero; Iris Lanao; Jasmina Halilcevic; Laura Fleischer; Lisa Kuhn Fraioli; Marieke de Leede; Micol Pistelli; Mila Bunker; mresearch@...; Nejira Nalic; Norma Rosas Lizarraga; Radhika Desai1; rd@...; Rebecca Ruf; Rebecca Ruf 2; Sandra Hart; Tabasum Westra-van Til; Tigist Tesfaye; valbarracin@...
Subject: [WEMANNetwork_English] Re: [MFP] New WEMANResources website genfinance section [2 Attachments]

 

 

[Attachment(s) from Getaneh Gobezie included below]

Dear Linda,

 

Thank you for this resource, and linking up with important networks. .... Please note, however, that DevFinance network is unfortunately not currently active.

 

We hope that this would stimulate the discussion on gender + microfinance, building up on the MCS event in Spain. The Report (titled ''FINANCIAL SERVICES FOR GENDER JUSTICE) is critical, among others, on the Social Performance indicators, proposed by the SEAL of Excellence (built on SPTF & Smart campaign works), which have been lose on 'empowerment' and 'gender equality' issues, limiting the gender indicators only to access + use of finance by women! The key issue here is that only access + use of financial services by women can, at best, lead to the maintenance of basic survival and well-being (e.g:- proper nourishment, good health, adequate shelter, reasonable clothing, clean water, etc). However, confining the analysis of gender inequality to these 'achievements' alone serves to convey the impression that women's dis-empowerment is largely a mater of poverty! The Report pointed out that more work is needed to identify such indicators on empowerment and gender equality, highlighting on-going efforts to establish them through participatory ways with clients, which proved effective in parts of Africa, Asia and Latin America.

 

I am forwarding the Report on gender discussion and advocacy (attached again) also to the SPTF Gender group (in the CC) some of whom have been in the Summit but were not in the GENFINANCE-WEMAN Team discussion.... Also for the benefit of GENFINANCE-WEMAN Team, I am attaching the SPTF Gender group 'Position paper' which contains (pg 7) some of the gender indicators for further discussion. 

 

Note also that same critical issue has also been a point of discussion in the recent UN-Women 'Expert Group Meeting' on Economic Empowerment of women in Ghana (Sep 19-22, 2011).

 

 

I hope this helps, and look forward to hear from you.

 

Kind Regards,

 

Getaneh Gobezie


--- On Sat, 2/18/12, Linda Mayoux <l.mayoux@...> wrote:


From: Linda Mayoux <l.mayoux@...>
Subject: [MFP] New WEMANResources website genfinance section
To: genfinance@yahoogroups.com, "WEMANNetwork" <WEMANNetwork_English@yahoogroups.com>, weman_espanol@yahoogroups.com, "Sabina Gietema" <s.gietema@...>, "'Katja Koegler'" <Katja.Koegler@...>, gdiaz@..., sejaldand@..., rurizar@..., plumumba@..., irislanao@..., spait@..., crevilla@..., mzobeida@..., bleussink@..., zia@..., aliani_s@..., asma.ravji@..., arbeela.sahar@..., creamwestnile@..., shoukat.abro@..., salma.umme@..., getanehg2002@..., inafi.asia@..., seher.afsheen@..., dir.ndp.siraj@..., "'Bukonzo Joint Cooperative Micro Finance'" <bukonzojointcooperative@...>, MicrofinancePractice@yahoogroups.com, "Devfinance Listserve" <devfinance@...>
Date: Saturday, February 18, 2012, 11:45 AM

 

Dear colleagues,

 

I would like to announce the new genfinance section of a new website: WEMANResources http://www.wemanresources.info/Page3_GenderMainstreaming/3_5_Financial%20services/3_5_0_FinancialServices.html    This section has updated and replaced materials on genfinance, but can still be accessed through a holding page on www.genfinance.info

 

This new website is intended as the basis for discussion on strategies to promote gender justice through microfinance, as a follow up to the recent discussions at the MicroCredit Summit in Valladolid.

 

The discussions will continue to take place through the genfinance Yahoo group http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/genfinance/  which everyone is welcome to join (but please do give a brief description of your background to help our management). Our Spanish colleagues are invited to use the WEMANEspanol Yahoo weman_espanol@yahoogroups.com .

 

Particularly burning issues which emerged at the Summit were:

 

1)      Gender and the proposed Seal of Excellence

– what impact and/or process indicators are needed as the ‘minimum’ and what as most desirable in order to encourage MFIs to develop empowerment strategies.

-          What are the relative merits of gender mainstreaming in a general seal compared to promotion of a specific set of gender standards

 

2)      What further product innovations are out there eg pensions for women, products for asset building under women’s ownership, products for men which promote them to share assets and ownership more equally with women and take more responsibility for household well-being rather than overburdening women?

 

3)      What further innovations are there for women’s empowerment strategies which can have significant impact and also be sustainable?

 

4)      Are there any new examples of micro-finance as the basis for wider mobilisation of women and/or men for collective action on gender justice – eg land rights, political participation, gender-based violence etc

 

5)      What should be the main priorities for advocacy? In micro-finance networks? The regional MicroCredit Summits? With governments? With donor agencies?

 

6)      Are there any new training/capacity-building programmes on gender and micro-finance?

 

Please feel free also to raise any other issues you feel are important. And to invite any people you think will be interested. The discussion will continue until at least the middle of March to feed into a workshop on gender and microfinance with SDC in Berne.

 

I would be very grateful for any comments/suggestions for improvement of the webpages – they are an ongoing resource which will be updated as further materials become available.

 

Hoping to hear from you,

Linda

 

PS some of the other sections of the wemanresources website are still under construction but should be complete by end of March.


#832 From: "Ziaul" <ziaul.ahsan@...>
Date: Sun Feb 26, 2012 10:57 am
Subject: Funding for Homestead five capital development
ziaul75
Send Email Send Email
 
The project proposes to develop natural capital, physical capital, social
capital, financial capital & human capital at each rural homestead with
reproductive health care management & nutrition supplements to each homestead
members. The human resources at each homestead will be brought through home
based training & supplement in an special credit program.

In the proposal that every targeted household in a homestead will be trained and
updated to needs of homestead five capital development and for resources
development health & nutrition will be an added step for each homestead members
under program and in the due course areas after areas will be covered to end
with the total homestead coverage of the country.

The project approved by Ministry of Social Welfare, Government of Bangladesh
vide memo no. MSW/Plan-23/97-127 dated April 21, 1998. And appreciated by UNDP
Vide memo no. Pro/300/RQ dated 23.9.97.

The project is need fund for start is management to work with gender balance.

Awaiting to hear from you soon.

#833 From: "Ziaul" <ziaul.ahsan@...>
Date: Sun Feb 26, 2012 10:59 am
Subject: Funding for Homestead five capitla developoment
ziaul75
Send Email Send Email
 
The project proposes to develop natural capital, physical capital, social
capital, financial capital & human capital at each rural homestead with
reproductive health care management & nutrition supplements to each homestead
members. The human resources at each homestead will be brought through home
based training & supplement in an special credit program.

In the proposal that every targeted household in a homestead will be trained and
updated to needs of homestead five capital development and for resources
development health & nutrition will be an added step for each homestead members
under program and in the due course areas after areas will be covered to end
with the total homestead coverage of the country.

The project approved by Ministry of Social Welfare, Government of Bangladesh
vide memo no. MSW/Plan-23/97-127 dated April 21, 1998. And appreciated by UNDP
Vide memo no. Pro/300/RQ dated 23.9.97.

The project is need fund for start is management to work with gender balance.

Awaiting to hear from you soon.

With regards.

Mohammad Ziaul Ahsan
Executive Member, OSDUY
House NO # 11/1, Road No # 2
Shamoli, Dhaka 1207
Bangladesh
Cell: 008801673497449

#834 From: "Linda Mayoux" <l.mayoux@...>
Date: Tue Feb 28, 2012 9:35 am
Subject: Comments and feedback on MCS - and discussion on GALS on PALSNTework shortly please join
lindamayoux
Send Email Send Email
 

Dear Marije,

 

Thankyou very much for your detailed comments on our MCS report. They are very helpful. I am forwarding them to genfinance also (see below)

 

APOLOGIES to weman-espanol for all the English discussion please LAmigas do also contribute in Spanish.

 

GALS has been used with staff within organisations like Finca, and I have also used them a lot for gender trainings with staff. Though it is mainly the community level which has been documented because working with staff to help them communicate better with clients on gender issues is generally a necessary key step. And we have a documentation challenge/backlog.

 

But I would be really interested to see any documentation you have of adapting the tools for gender training of staff in your work GALS development is a collaborative effort.

 

MARIJE and others maybe you would also like to join in on genfinance http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/genfinance/ for more specific discussion of gender and MF in English.

 

And/or PALSNetwork for discussion on GALS which I will be reviving in the next month or so for a number of different processes I am involved in: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/PALSNetwork

Contributions there welcome in English or Spanish.

 

Best wishes,

Linda

 

From: weman_espanol@yahoogroups.com [mailto:weman_espanol@yahoogroups.com]
Sent: 28 February 2012 08:44
To: weman_espanol@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [weman_espanol] Digest Number 197[1 Attachment]

 

Messages In This Digest (1 Message)

Message

1a.

[Attachment(s) from Marije included below]

Dear Linda and Getaneh:

Congratulations with your work! I read it with great interest and made some
notes along the way. I hope these are useful to you (see attach).

Looking forward to see you on a next summit or learning route (we are
presently developing one regarding microfinance, HIV and gender).

Regards,

Marije

Marije van Lidth de Jeude
A Company Consultora

Tel: +506 8651-4002 / 8858-3521
Skype: marije1
www.a-01.net

P Por favor considere su responsabilidad con el medio ambiente antes de
imprimir este correo 
Este correo es confidencial y de inters solo del destinatario arriba
mencionado. Si usted recibe por error este correo, por favor brrelo
inmediatamente y notifquenos va correo electrnico o va telefnica.

On 2/26/12 4:34 AM, "Linda Mayoux" <l.mayoux@...> wrote:

>
>
>
>
>
> Thanks Getaneh for putting these processes together
>
> The Discussion draft from the Summit is just a draft I would very much
> welcome any comments before finalising it for circulation on Tuesday in
> preparation for a gender and MF workshop with SDC and WWB in Berne. Including
> also some reference to the SPTF gender paper and the discussion in Ghana.
>
> I will send the final version to everyone copied in this mail by Wednesday.
> And please can I encourage any of you who are interested to join the
> genfinance Yahoo group genfinance Yahoo group:
> http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/genfinance/
> <http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/genfinance/>
> That is the best/easiest place for us to have ongoing discussions and any
> member can put up relevant files. Please also invite any of your colleagues to
> join.
>
> It seems the MicroCredit summit will be organising an e-discussion with their
> membership, CGAP and others sometime end April/early May. It would be good to
> have all the relevant resources and/or links to other initiatives/differing
> perspectives easily available from WEMANResources by then, so we dont keep
> reinventing the wheel and having the same discussions, but move significantly
> forward. And we need to have as many voices (including those who may not agree
> with the WEMAN line) involved in the discussion to have as much impact as we
> can.
>
> Best wishes and looking forward to hearing from you,
> Linda
>
>
> From: WEMANNetwork_English@yahoogroups.com
> [mailto:WEMANNetwork_English@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of Getaneh Gobezie
> Sent: 26 February 2012 06:18
> To: genfinance@yahoogroups.com; WEMANNetwork; weman_espanol@yahoogroups.com;
> Sabina Gietema; 'Katja Koegler'; gdiaz@...; sejaldand@...;
> rurizar@...; plumumba@...; irislanao@...;
> spait@...; crevilla@...; mzobeida@...;
> bleussink@...; zia@...; aliani_s@...;
> asma.ravji@...; arbeela.sahar@...; creamwestnile@...;
> shoukat.abro@...; salma.umme@...; inafi.asia@...;
> seher.afsheen@...; dir.ndp.siraj@...; 'Bukonzo Joint
> Cooperative Micro Finance'; MicrofinancePractice@yahoogroups.com; Devfinance
> Listserve
> Cc: Jaclyn Berfond; Amelia Greenberg; Amelia Greenberg 2; Anne Hastings;
> Caitlin Scott; Carmen Velasco; Carolina Benavides; Celina Kawas; Elizabeth
> Lynch; Ewa Bankowska; Frances Sinha; g.athmer@...; Getaneh Gobezie;
> Irina Aliaga Romero; Iris Lanao; Jasmina Halilcevic; Laura Fleischer; Lisa
> Kuhn Fraioli; Marieke de Leede; Micol Pistelli; Mila Bunker;
> mresearch@...; Nejira Nalic; Norma Rosas Lizarraga; Radhika Desai1;
> rd@...; Rebecca Ruf; Rebecca Ruf 2; Sandra Hart; Tabasum Westra-van Til;
> Tigist Tesfaye; valbarracin@...
> Subject: [WEMANNetwork_English] Re: [MFP] New WEMANResources website
> genfinance section [2 Attachments]
>
>
>
> [Attachment(s) <#TopText> from Getaneh Gobezie included below]
>
> Dear Linda,
>
> Thank you for this resource, and linking up with important networks. ....
> Please note, however, that DevFinance network is unfortunately not currently
> active.
>
> We hope that this would stimulate the discussion on gender + microfinance,
> building up on the MCS event in Spain. The Report (titled ''FINANCIAL SERVICES
> FOR GENDER JUSTICE) is critical, among others, on the Social Performance
> indicators, proposed by the SEAL of Excellence (built on SPTF & Smart campaign
> works), which have been lose on 'empowerment' and 'gender equality' issues,
> limiting the gender indicators only to access + use of finance by women! The
> key issue here is that only access + use of financial services by women can,
> at best, lead to the maintenance of basic survival and well-being (e.g:-
> proper nourishment, good health, adequate shelter, reasonable clothing, clean
> water, etc). However, confining the analysis of gender inequality to these
> 'achievements' alone serves to convey the impression that women's
> dis-empowerment is largely a mater of poverty! The Report pointed out that
> more work is needed to identify such indicators on empowerment and gender
> equality, highlighting on-going efforts to establish them through
> participatory ways with clients, which proved effective in parts of Africa,
> Asia and Latin America.
>
> I am forwarding the Report on gender discussion and advocacy (attached again)
> also to the SPTF Gender group (in the CC) some of whom have been in the Summit
> but were not in the GENFINANCE-WEMAN Team discussion.... Also for the benefit
> of GENFINANCE-WEMAN Team, I am attaching the SPTF Gender group 'Position
> paper' which contains (pg 7) some of the gender indicators for further
> discussion.
>
> Note also that same critical issue has also been a point of discussion in the
> recent UN-Women 'Expert Group Meeting' on Economic Empowerment of women in
> Ghana (Sep 19-22, 2011).
>
> http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/csw/csw56/egm.htm
>
> I hope this helps, and look forward to hear from you.
>
> Kind Regards,
>
> Getaneh Gobezie
>
> --- On Sat, 2/18/12, Linda Mayoux <l.mayoux@...> wrote:
>>
>> From: Linda Mayoux <l.mayoux@...>
>> Subject: [MFP] New WEMANResources website genfinance section
>> To: genfinance@yahoogroups.com, "WEMANNetwork"
>> <WEMANNetwork_English@yahoogroups.com>, weman_espanol@yahoogroups.com,
>> "Sabina Gietema" <s.gietema@...>, "'Katja Koegler'"
>> <Katja.Koegler@...>, gdiaz@..., sejaldand@...,
>> rurizar@..., plumumba@..., irislanao@...,
>> spait@..., crevilla@..., mzobeida@...,
>> bleussink@..., zia@..., aliani_s@...,
>> asma.ravji@..., arbeela.sahar@..., creamwestnile@...,
>> shoukat.abro@..., salma.umme@..., getanehg2002@...,
>> inafi.asia@..., seher.afsheen@...,
>> dir.ndp.siraj@..., "'Bukonzo Joint Cooperative Micro Finance'"
>> <bukonzojointcooperative@...>, MicrofinancePractice@yahoogroups.com,
>> "Devfinance Listserve" <devfinance@...>
>> Date: Saturday, February 18, 2012, 11:45 AM Dear colleagues,
>>
>> I would like to announce the new genfinance section of a new website:
>> WEMANResources
>> http://www.wemanresources.info/Page3_GenderMainstreaming/3_5_Financial%20serv
>> ices/3_5_0_FinancialServices.html This section has updated and replaced
>> materials on genfinance, but can still be accessed through a holding page on
>> www.genfinance.info <http://www.genfinance.info/>
>>
>> This new website is intended as the basis for discussion on strategies to
>> promote gender justice through microfinance, as a follow up to the recent
>> discussions at the MicroCredit Summit in Valladolid.
>> The discussions will continue to take place through the genfinance Yahoo
>> group http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/genfinance/ which everyone is
>> welcome to join (but please do give a brief description of your background to
>> help our management). Our Spanish colleagues are invited to use the
>> WEMANEspanol Yahoo weman_espanol@yahoogroups.com
>> <http://us.mc1101.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=weman_espanol@yahoogroups.com>
>> . Particularly burning issues which emerged at the Summit were: 1)
>> Gender and the proposed Seal of Excellence what impact and/or process
>> indicators are needed as the minimum and what as most desirable in order to
>> encourage MFIs to develop empowerment strategies. - What are the
>> relative merits of gender mainstreaming in a general seal compared to
>> promotion of a specific set of gender standards 2) What further
>> product innovations are out there eg pensions for women, products for asset
>> building under womens ownership, products for men which promote them to
>> share assets and ownership more equally with women and take more
>> responsibility for household well-being rather than overburdening women? 3)
>> What further innovations are there for womens empowerment strategies which
>> can have significant impact and also be sustainable? 4) Are there any
>> new examples of micro-finance as the basis for wider mobilisation of women
>> and/or men for collective action on gender justice eg land rights,
>> political participation, gender-based violence etc 5) What should be
>> the main priorities for advocacy? In micro-finance networks? The regional
>> MicroCredit Summits? With governments? With donor agencies? 6) Are
>> there any new training/capacity-building programmes on gender and
>> micro-finance? Please feel free also to raise any other issues you feel are
>> important. And to invite any people you think will be interested. The
>> discussion will continue until at least the middle of March to feed into a
>> workshop on gender and microfinance with SDC in Berne. I would be very
>> grateful for any comments/suggestions for improvement of the webpages they
>> are an ongoing resource which will be updated as further materials become
>> available. Hoping to hear from you, Linda PS some of the other sections
>> of the wemanresources website are still under construction but should be
>> complete by end of March.
>
>
>
>

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#835 From: "Linda Mayoux" <l.mayoux@...>
Date: Mon Mar 5, 2012 12:49 pm
Subject: comments and feedback for the final version of the discussion draft by end of Sunday March 11th please
lindamayoux
Send Email Send Email
 

Dear all,

 

I have been getting some very useful comments from some people on my paper – attached is the draft with comments from Marije van Lidth de Jeude and Frances Sinha which somehow seemed to have been blocked by the Yahoo system.

 

I am extending the final deadline for comments until next Sunday March 11th, so I can finish on Monday. Also in the light of forthcoming discussions at a genfinance workshop with SDC and WWB in Berne this week. And in the UK Parliament Advisory group on MF. My final version will also have more of my suggestions on SPM.

 

So I would really welcome any further comments – fully accredited of course. Then the paper can serve as a basis for the anitcipated MCS/CGAP online discussion in April/May.

 

Best wishes,

Linda

 

 

From: Frances Sinha [mailto:francessinha@...]
Sent: 05 March 2012 12:03
To: l.mayoux@...
Subject: FW: [weman_espanol] RE: Please can I have comments and feedback for the final version of the discussion draft by end of Monday (tomorrow)

 

Had sent this ....

 

From: Frances Sinha [mailto:francessinha@...]
Sent: Tuesday, February 28, 2012 3:56 PM
To: 'Marije'; 'weman_espanol@yahoogroups.com'; 'WEMANNetwork_English@yahoogroups.com'; 'genfinance@yahoogroups.com'; 'Sabina Gietema'; 'Katja Koegler'; 'gdiaz@...'; 'sejaldand@...'; 'rurizar@...'; 'plumumba@...'; 'irislanao@...'; 'spait@...'; 'crevilla@...'; 'mzobeida@...'; 'bleussink@...'; 'zia@...'; 'aliani_s@...'; 'asma.ravji@...'; 'arbeela.sahar@...'; 'creamwestnile@...'; 'shoukat.abro@...'; 'salma.umme@...'; 'inafi.asia@...'; 'seher.afsheen@...'; 'dir.ndp.siraj@...'; 'Bukonzo Joint Cooperative Micro Finance'; 'MicrofinancePractice@yahoogroups.com'
Cc: 'Jaclyn Berfond'; 'Amelia Greenberg'; 'Amelia Greenberg 2'; 'Anne Hastings'; 'Caitlin Scott'; 'Carmen Velasco'; 'Carolina Benavides'; 'Celina Kawas'; 'Elizabeth Lynch'; 'Ewa Bankowska'; 'g.athmer@...'; 'Irina Aliaga Romero'; 'Jasmina Halilcevic'; 'Laura Fleischer'; 'Lisa Kuhn Fraioli'; 'Marieke de Leede'; 'Micol Pistelli'; 'Mila Bunker'; 'mresearch@...'; 'Nejira Nalic'; 'Norma Rosas Lizarraga'; 'Radhika Desai1'; 'rd@...'; 'Rebecca Ruf'; 'Rebecca Ruf 2'; 'Sandra Hart'; 'Tabasum Westra-van Til'; 'Tigist Tesfaye'; 'valbarracin@...'; 'Lisa Laegreid'; 'Larry Reed'
Subject: RE: [weman_espanol] RE: Please can I have comments and feedback for the final version of the discussion draft by end of Monday (tomorrow)

 

Dear Linda and Getaneh – and other supporters of WEMAN

 

I have added my comments – and some corrections - in with Marije’s very interesting comments, in the attached file.  As the paper points out, this is a good opportunity to identify the sequencing of key steps and practical indicators, including for the Seal of Excellence.

 

Kind regards

Frances

 

From: Marije [mailto:mvldj@...]
Sent: Tuesday, February 28, 2012 12:53 AM
To: weman_espanol@yahoogroups.com; WEMANNetwork_English@yahoogroups.com; genfinance@yahoogroups.com; 'Sabina Gietema'; 'Katja Koegler'; gdiaz@...; sejaldand@...; rurizar@...; plumumba@...; irislanao@...; spait@...; crevilla@...; mzobeida@...; bleussink@...; zia@...; aliani_s@...; asma.ravji@...; arbeela.sahar@...; creamwestnile@...; shoukat.abro@...; salma.umme@...; inafi.asia@...; seher.afsheen@...; dir.ndp.siraj@...; 'Bukonzo Joint Cooperative Micro Finance'; MicrofinancePractice@yahoogroups.com
Cc: 'Jaclyn Berfond'; 'Amelia Greenberg'; 'Amelia Greenberg 2'; 'Anne Hastings'; 'Caitlin Scott'; 'Carmen Velasco'; 'Carolina Benavides'; 'Celina Kawas'; 'Elizabeth Lynch'; 'Ewa Bankowska'; 'Frances Sinha'; g.athmer@...; 'Irina Aliaga Romero'; 'Jasmina Halilcevic'; 'Laura Fleischer'; 'Lisa Kuhn Fraioli'; 'Marieke de Leede'; 'Micol Pistelli'; 'Mila Bunker'; mresearch@...; 'Nejira Nalic'; 'Norma Rosas Lizarraga'; 'Radhika Desai1'; rd@...; 'Rebecca Ruf'; 'Rebecca Ruf 2'; 'Sandra Hart'; 'Tabasum Westra-van Til'; 'Tigist Tesfaye'; valbarracin@...
Subject: Re: [weman_espanol] RE: Please can I have comments and feedback for the final version of the discussion draft by end of Monday (tomorrow)
Importance: High

 

Dear Linda and Getaneh:

Congratulations with your work! I read it with great interest and made some notes along the way. I hope these are useful to you (see attach).

Looking forward to see you on a next summit or learning route (we are presently developing one regarding microfinance, HIV and gender).

Regards,

Marije


Marije van Lidth de Jeude
A Company Consultora

Tel: +506 8651-4002 / 8858-3521
Skype: marije1
www.a-01.net

P Por favor considere su responsabilidad con el medio ambiente antes de imprimir este correo 
Este correo es confidencial y de inters solo del destinatario arriba mencionado. Si usted recibe por error este correo, por favor brrelo inmediatamente y notifquenos va correo electrnico o va telefnica.




On 2/26/12 4:34 AM, "Linda Mayoux" <l.mayoux@...> wrote:


 
 
   

Thanks Getaneh for putting these processes together
 
The Discussion draft from the Summit is just a draft – I would very much welcome any comments before finalising it for circulation on Tuesday – in preparation for a gender and MF workshop with SDC and WWB in Berne. Including also some reference to the SPTF gender paper and the discussion in Ghana.
 
I will send the final version to everyone copied in this mail by Wednesday. And please can I encourage any of you who are interested to join the genfinance Yahoo group
genfinance Yahoo group: http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/genfinance/ <http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/genfinance/>
That is the best/easiest place for us to have ongoing discussions and any member can put up relevant files. Please also invite any of your colleagues to join.
 
It seems the MicroCredit summit will be organising an e-discussion with their membership, CGAP and others sometime end April/early May. It would be good to have all the relevant resources and/or links to other initiatives/differing perspectives easily available from WEMANResources by then, so we don’t keep reinventing the wheel and having the same discussions, but move significantly forward. And we need to have as many voices (including those who may not agree with the ‘WEMAN line’) involved in the discussion to have as much impact as we can.
 
Best wishes and looking forward to hearing from you,
Linda
 

From: WEMANNetwork_English@yahoogroups.com [mailto:WEMANNetwork_English@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of Getaneh Gobezie
Sent: 26 February 2012 06:18
To: genfinance@yahoogroups.com; WEMANNetwork; weman_espanol@yahoogroups.com; Sabina Gietema; 'Katja Koegler'; gdiaz@...; sejaldand@...; rurizar@...; plumumba@...; irislanao@...; spait@...; crevilla@...; mzobeida@...; bleussink@...; zia@...; aliani_s@...; asma.ravji@...; arbeela.sahar@...; creamwestnile@...; shoukat.abro@...; salma.umme@...; inafi.asia@...; seher.afsheen@...; dir.ndp.siraj@...; 'Bukonzo Joint Cooperative Micro Finance'; MicrofinancePractice@yahoogroups.com; Devfinance Listserve
Cc: Jaclyn Berfond; Amelia Greenberg; Amelia Greenberg 2; Anne Hastings; Caitlin Scott; Carmen Velasco; Carolina Benavides; Celina Kawas; Elizabeth Lynch; Ewa Bankowska; Frances Sinha; g.athmer@...; Getaneh Gobezie; Irina Aliaga Romero; Iris Lanao; Jasmina Halilcevic; Laura Fleischer; Lisa Kuhn Fraioli; Marieke de Leede; Micol Pistelli; Mila Bunker; mresearch@...; Nejira Nalic; Norma Rosas Lizarraga; Radhika Desai1; rd@...; Rebecca Ruf; Rebecca Ruf 2; Sandra Hart; Tabasum Westra-van Til; Tigist Tesfaye; valbarracin@...
Subject: [WEMANNetwork_English] Re: [MFP] New WEMANResources website genfinance section [2 Attachments]

  

[Attachment(s) <#TopText>  from Getaneh Gobezie included below]

Dear Linda,
 
Thank you for this resource, and linking up with important networks. .... Please note, however, that DevFinance network is unfortunately not currently active.
 
We hope that this would stimulate the discussion on gender + microfinance, building up on the MCS event in Spain. The Report (titled ''FINANCIAL SERVICES FOR GENDER JUSTICE) is critical, among others, on the Social Performance indicators, proposed by the SEAL of Excellence (built on SPTF & Smart campaign works), which have been lose on 'empowerment' and 'gender equality' issues, limiting the gender indicators only to access + use of finance by women! The key issue here is that only access + use of financial services by women can, at best, lead to the maintenance of basic survival and well-being (e.g:- proper nourishment, good health, adequate shelter, reasonable clothing, clean water, etc). However, confining the analysis of gender inequality to these 'achievements' alone serves to convey the impression that women's dis-empowerment is largely a mater of poverty! The Report pointed out that more work is needed to identify such indicators on empowerment and gender equality, highlighting on-going efforts to establish them through participatory ways with clients, which proved effective in parts of Africa, Asia and Latin America.
 
I am forwarding the Report on gender discussion and advocacy (attached again) also to the SPTF Gender group (in the CC) some of whom have been in the Summit but were not in the GENFINANCE-WEMAN Team discussion.... Also for the benefit of GENFINANCE-WEMAN Team, I am attaching the SPTF Gender group 'Position paper' which contains (pg 7) some of the gender indicators for further discussion.  
 
Note also that same critical issue has also been a point of discussion in the recent UN-Women 'Expert Group Meeting' on Economic Empowerment of women in Ghana (Sep 19-22, 2011).
 
http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/csw/csw56/egm.htm
 
I hope this helps, and look forward to hear from you.
 
Kind Regards,
 
Getaneh Gobezie

--- On Sat, 2/18/12, Linda Mayoux <l.mayoux@...> wrote:


From: Linda Mayoux <l.mayoux@...>
Subject: [MFP] New WEMANResources website genfinance section
To: genfinance@yahoogroups.com, "WEMANNetwork" <WEMANNetwork_English@yahoogroups.com>, weman_espanol@yahoogroups.com, "Sabina Gietema" <s.gietema@...>, "'Katja Koegler'" <Katja.Koegler@...>, gdiaz@..., sejaldand@..., rurizar@..., plumumba@..., irislanao@..., spait@..., crevilla@..., mzobeida@..., bleussink@..., zia@..., aliani_s@..., asma.ravji@..., arbeela.sahar@..., creamwestnile@..., shoukat.abro@..., salma.umme@..., getanehg2002@..., inafi.asia@..., seher.afsheen@..., dir.ndp.siraj@..., "'Bukonzo Joint Cooperative Micro Finance'" <bukonzojointcooperative@...>, MicrofinancePractice@yahoogroups.com, "Devfinance Listserve" <devfinance@...>
Date: Saturday, February 18, 2012, 11:45 AM  Dear colleagues,
 
I would like to announce the new genfinance section of a new website: WEMANResources http://www.wemanresources.info/Page3_GenderMainstreaming/3_5_Financial%20services/3_5_0_FinancialServices.html    This section has updated and replaced materials on genfinance, but can still be accessed through a holding page on www.genfinance.info <http://www.genfinance.info/>  
 
This new website is intended as the basis for discussion on strategies to promote gender justice through microfinance, as a follow up to the recent discussions at the MicroCredit Summit in Valladolid.
  The discussions will continue to take place through the genfinance Yahoo group http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/genfinance/  which everyone is welcome to join (but please do give a brief description of your background to help our management). Our Spanish colleagues are invited to use the WEMANEspanol Yahoo weman_espanol@yahoogroups.com <http://us.mc1101.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=weman_espanol@yahoogroups.com>  .   Particularly burning issues which emerged at the Summit were:   1)
     Gender and the proposed Seal of Excellence – what impact and/or process indicators are needed as the ‘minimum’ and what as most desirable in order to encourage MFIs to develop empowerment strategies. -          What are the relative merits of gender mainstreaming in a general seal compared to promotion of a specific set of gender standards   2)      What further product innovations are out there eg pensions for women, products for asset building under women’s ownership, products for men which promote them to share assets and ownership more equally with women and take more responsibility for household well-being rather than overburdening women?   3)      What further innovations are there for women’s empowerment strategies which can have significant impact and also be sustainable?   4)      Are there any new examples of micro-finance as the basis for wider mobilisation of women and/or men for collective action on gender justice – eg land rights, political participation, gender-based violence etc   5)      What should be the main priorities for advocacy? In micro-finance networks? The regional MicroCredit Summits? With governments? With donor agencies?   6)      Are there any new training/capacity-building programmes on gender and micro-finance?   Please feel free also to raise any other issues you feel are important. And to invite any people you think will be interested. The discussion will continue until at least the middle of March to feed into a workshop on gender and microfinance with SDC in Berne.   I would be very grateful for any comments/suggestions for improvement of the webpages – they are an ongoing resource which will be updated as further materials become available.   Hoping to hear from you, Linda   PS some of the other sections of the wemanresources website are still under construction but should be complete by end of March.


   


1 of 1 File(s)


#836 From: roghaya hamza <rogaya20@...>
Date: Thu Mar 8, 2012 9:16 am
Subject: Fw: Happy Women's Day Everyone
rogaya20
Send Email Send Email
 

Dears
Please celebrate it is OUR DAY
Best rgds
Rogaya Hamza Osman
LEAP Project Manager
PASED
Port Sudan
Sudan
Tel: +249311823330
Cel: +249912292385
Skype: rogayahamza

--- On Wed, 3/7/12, Janet Abzakh <Jabzakh@...> wrote:

From: Janet Abzakh <Jabzakh@...>
Subject: Happy Women's Day Everyone


http://youngwomenmisbehavin.files.wordpress.com/2011/03/womenday.gif?w=388&h=278

 

_________________________________________________________
Unless otherwise indicated or obvious from the nature of this communication, the information contained herein is confidential. The communication is intended for the use of the individual or entity named above. If the reader of this transmission is not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any dissemination, distribution or copying of this communication is strictly prohibited. If you have received this communication in error or are not sure whether it is confidential, please immediately notify us by return e-mail and destroy any copies, electronic, paper or otherwise, which you may have of this communication.

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#837 From: dimples <emilennkate@...>
Date: Fri Mar 16, 2012 4:30 am
Subject: Fw: SEDPI Group Newsletter
dimples_sacd...
Send Email Send Email
 

----- Forwarded Message -----
From: SEDPI <info@...>
To: Dimples <emilennkate@...>
Sent: Friday, March 16, 2012 12:06 PM
Subject: SEDPI Group Newsletter

SEDPI Group Newsletter
Social Enterprise Development Partnerships, Inc,
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View it in your browser.
ABS-CBN FEATURES SEDPI STUDY
ON OFW FINANCIAL STATUS




SEDPI’s study on the financial status of Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) was the highlight of an ABS CBN report. ABS CBN’s Europe News Bureau posted the report which covered SEDPI’s training on Financial Literacy for Remittance Senders in Oslo, Norway last November 5. (Read ABS-CBN Article) Eighty five participants, mostly au pairs in Oslo and neighbouring cities of Norway, attended the training. Au pairs work in European households as babysitters and household workers and live with the host family.

The study reveals that 1 in every 10 OFWs is financially broke even after years of working abroad. Moreover, 8 in every 10 OFWs also do not have savings. Of all the OFWs who participated in the study, only 20% save regularly. OFWs and families also tend to be dependent on regular remittances and invest on idle assets. They also lack financial preparation for retirement. 

The figures affirm SEDPI’s commitment to continue implementing its financial education program. The training is part of the financial literacy program that aims to equip migrants and their families on how to save, spend, budget, craft financial goals and manage debt. To date, SEDPI trained close to 2,000 OFWs in 14 different countries on financial literacy. For more details on how to partner with SEDPI to conduct financial literacy trainings, you may send an e-mail to 
info@....

SEDPI SPEAKS AT
THE GLOBAL MICROCREDIT SUMMIT 2011


SEDPI’s President and CEO, Mr. Mariel Vincent Rapisura, was one of the speakers in a workshop for the fifth Global Microcredit Summit 2011. This year’s summit was held on November 14 to 17 in Valladolid, Spain. Itfocused on sharing best practices and reviewing the progress of efforts to attain the goals of the Microcredit Summit Campaign. 

In the summit’s workshop titled “Remittances and Microfinance: Using Remittances for Productive Investments that Contribute to Sustainable Community Development”, Mr. Rapisura presented relevant SEDPI research results on remittances and microfinance. He shared SEDPI’s strategies geared towards improving the current situation of migrants and microfinance clients. 

SEDPI conducts financial literacy to migrants. To date, it has conducted 45 financial literacy trainings to 1,678 migrants in 14 countries worldwide. Through its financing arm, SEDPI Capital Credit, Inc. (SCCI), it mobilizes investments from migrants. SCCI mobilized USD300,000 from migrants. These migrant investments are then invested to local MFIs.SCCI has provided USD 2.5 million wholesale loans to 16 MFIs reaching 131,219 households in the Philippines. Most of these MFIs have operations in the rural areas. To protect migrant investments, SEDPI strengthens MFIs through extending capacity building and continuous monitoring and mentoring. SEDPI also conducts financial literacy to family members of remittance senders. A total of 575 remittance receivers in the Philippines were already trained. SEDPI also developed a comic book for remittance receivers and conducted training of trainers (TOT) to enable staff of MFIs to deliver the trainings to remittance receivers. 

Through its programs and services,SEDPI is able to share in the attainment of Microcredit Summit Campaign’s goals for 2015.These goals are to 1) ensure that 175 million of the world’s poorest families, especially the women of those families, are receiving credit for self-employment and other financial and business services and 2) ensure that 100 million families rise above the USD 1.25 a day poverty threshold. Given the current demographics and pressing needs of both migrants and MFI clients, SEDPI is all the more passionate in improving the delivery of its services for the migrants, MFIs and its clients, and remittance receivers.


SEDPI IS MINOR STOCKHOLDER
IN GOOD FOOD COMMUNITY, INC.


Good Food Community, Inc. (GFC) was formally registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission on December 28, 2011. GFC envisions a nationwide movement of socially responsible consumers supporting community shared agriculture. It has a total authorized capitalization of PhP4 million. 

GFC aims to uplift the lives of small farmers by bringing them into community with socially responsible consumers. It invites customers to become real stakeholders in the food system by committing to purchase a share of the vegetable harvest regularly for a fixed period. In this way, farmers are assured of a more stable demand and regular income. Beyond a more humane economics, GFC aims to cultivate community between and among consumers and farmers. 

In 2010, GFC won in the “I am a Changemaker” competition of the British Council. It was initiated by a group of young professionals called Hungrily. Last 2011, GFC was able to reach out to 20 farmers in Tarlac and almost 100 socially responsible consumers in Metro Manila with a total sales volume of more than one million pesos.

SEDPI, through its President and CEO, occupies one out of the five board seats of GFC. It controls 15% of the total shares. SEDPI facilitated the registration of GFC and also provides capacity building services to strengthen the operations of the social enterprise.



Social Enterprise Development Partnerships, Inc.

SEDPI has been growing the capacity of MFIs and helping them balance social and financial goals. It has also given financial education to remittance senders and receivers. Through these approaches, SEDPI has been putting homes, communities, and societies in a better position to protect and sustain themselves.


































































































Unit 303, Loyola Heights Condominium
F.B. dela Rosa cor. Esteban Abada sts.
Loyola Heights, Quezon City

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Copyright © 2012 Social Enterprise Development Partnerships Inc., All rights reserved.
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#838 From: Getaneh Gobezie <getanehg2002@...>
Date: Fri Mar 23, 2012 5:59 am
Subject: Fw: Good practice award. Recognizing Client Protection efforts? application deadline: March 30
getanehg2002
Send Email Send Email
 
FYI  ---
 
Below is an opportunity to compete on good practice.
 
Best Wishes
 
Getaneh


--- On Thu, 3/22/12, Good Practice Award <microfinance@...> wrote:

From: Good Practice Award <microfinance@...>
Subject: Good practice award. Recognizing Client Protection efforts? application deadline: March 30
To: "getanehg2002" <getanehg2002@...>
Date: Thursday, March 22, 2012, 1:15 PM

Russian version below/

Русская версия следует за английским текстом

 

Dear All,

MFC in cooperation with Smart Campaign would like to invite all microfinance institutions from the Region of Europe and Central Asia to submit their applications for the Good Practice Award. Recognizing Client Protection efforts.

We would like to remind you that the deadline for submitting the application is 30 March 2012

 

To learn more about the eligibility criteria, process of selection and awards, please visit our website:

In English: http://www.mfc.org.pl/en/content/good-practise-award

In Russian: http://www.mfc.org.pl/ru/content/премия-за-достижения-в-области-защиты-клиентов

 

Best Regards,

 

MFC Team

 

***

 

Уважаемые господа,


Центр  Микрофинансирования (
MFC)  совместно со Смарт Кампейн (Smart Campaign) хотел бы пригласить все микрофинансовые организации в регионе Европы и Центральной Азии представить свои заявки на премию Хорошая практика, которая  признает усилия организаций в области защиты клиентов.


Мы хотели бы
  напомнить, что крайним сроком подачи заявления является 30 марта 2012.

Для получения дополнительной информации
 о критериях, процессе отбора и наградах, пожалуйста, 
посетите наш сайт:
На английском языке:
 http://www.mfc.org.pl/en/content/good-practise-award

На русском языке:
http://www.mfc.org.pl/ru/content/премия-за-достижения-в-области-защиты-клиентов

 

С уважением,

Команда МФЦ

 

Microfinance Centre (MFC)

ul.Noakowskiego 10/38, 00-666 Warsaw, Poland

tel./fax: (+48 22) 622 34 65

 www.mfc.org.pl; e-mail: microfinance@...;

Register NOW for the MFC Annual Conference in Tbilisi, Georgia (May 29-30th). For early bird pricing REGISTER BEFORE March 31st, 2012.  

Free technical assistance for microfinance providers in European Union under the new edition of JASMINE 2012 project! Apply now on EIF website.

 

Уже СЕЙЧАС доступна регистрация для участия в Ежегодной Конференции МФЦ в Тбилиси (Грузия), которая состоится 29-30 мая 2012 г. Всем ЗАРЕГИСТРИРОВАВШИМСЯ ДО  31 марта 2012 г. предоставляется скидка.

Бесплатная техническая поддержка микрофинансовым организациям Европейского Союза в рамках проекта JASMINE 2012! Подать онлайн заявку.

 


#839 From: "Linda Mayoux" <l.mayoux@...>
Date: Tue Apr 10, 2012 10:20 am
Subject: Is sustainable local development a persuasive alternative to microfinance? | Global development | guardian.co.uk
lindamayoux
Send Email Send Email
 
#840 From: "Sara Pait" <spait@...>
Date: Tue Apr 10, 2012 2:42 pm
Subject: Re: Is sustainable local development a persuasive alternative tomicrofinance? | Global development | guardian.co.uk
saraconsulto...
Send Email Send Email
 
 
Thanks Linda and Malena for the interesting article.
 
Sincelast decades of  the last century we have heard from the debate in Latin America and other emerging regions. Economic development has been constantly related with promoting SME enterprises with growth potential considering simultaneously local development measures: focusing in opportunities for private and public investment to develop value chains, institutional and organisational environments and infrastructure to improve access to markets.
 
The issue is not to forget that on local environments where there are hundreds of persons involved in SME, there are simultaneously thousands  of women and men with family livelihoods that need at the same time financial resources, maybe not to show impressive businesses growth but to improve their family and personal day to day living with those livelihoods.  Women that have the opportunity to stand by themselves and bring better fed and educated children may have helped local development with the support of small microfinance programmes, those that for SME with growth potential followers may not be relevant. Not matter how small a livelihood and a financial resource received might be, it might still be beautiful if rationally provided, and why not complementary with other diverse local economical and financial strategies for economic growth.
  
Sara
 
 
-------Original Message-------
 
Date: 10/04/2012 05:20:28 a.m.
Subject: [genfinance] Is sustainable local development a persuasive alternative tomicrofinance? | Global development | guardian.co.uk
 
 
 
FREE Animations for your email - by IncrediMail! Click Here!

#841 From: "Sara Pait" <spait@...>
Date: Tue Apr 10, 2012 3:03 pm
Subject: Re: Is sustainable local development a persuasive alternative tomicrofinance? | Global development | guardian.co.uk
saraconsulto...
Send Email Send Email
 
Dear Linda and all, I find out that my comments arrived distorted to the genfinance members (hackers)??.  Please find the original version attached to this mail.
 
 
Best

Sara
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
-------Original Message-------
 
From: Sara Pait
Date: 10/04/2012 09:42:02 a.m.
Subject: Re: [genfinance] Is sustainable local development a persuasive alternative tomicrofinance? | Global development | guardian.co.uk
 
 
Thanks Linda and Malena for the interesting article.
 
Since last decades of  the last century we have heard from the debate in Latin America and other emerging regions. Economic development has been constantly related with promoting SME enterprises with growth potential considering simultaneously local development measures: focusing in opportunities for private and public investment to develop value chains, institutional and organisational environments and infrastructure to improve access to markets.
 
The issue is not to forget that on local environments where there are hundreds of persons involved in SME, there are simultaneously thousands  of women and men with family livelihoods that need at the same time financial resources, maybe not to show impressive businesses growth but to improve their family and personal day to day living with those livelihoods.  Women that have the opportunity to stand by themselves and bring better fed and educated children may have helped local development with the support of small microfinance programmes, those that for SME with growth potential followers may not be relevant. Not matter how small a livelihood and a financial resource received might be, it might still be beautiful if rationally provided, and why not complementary with other diverse local economical and financial strategies for economic growth.
  
Sara
 
 
-------Original Message-------
 
Date: 10/04/2012 05:20:28 a.m.
Subject: [genfinance] Is sustainable local development a persuasive alternative tomicrofinance? | Global development | guardian.co.uk
 
 
 
 
FREE Animations for your email - by IncrediMail! Click Here!

1 of 1 File(s)


#842 From: Mr Fuseini Yamyia Dawuda <dyamyia@...>
Date: Tue Apr 10, 2012 5:37 pm
Subject: Re: Is sustainable local development a persuasive alternative to microfinance? | Global development | guardian.co.uk
dyamyia
Send Email Send Email
 
I think the arguments raised here ignore key essential facts that are accepted by most MFI practitioners and researchers - that micro finance is not a cure-all nor should be done alone without other complimentary development policies, structures and systems in place. To argue otherwise will be doing a disservice to the true potential of micro finance - that is, to help those in the bottom of the social and financial pyramid in society. Let's not forget that these are the people the so-called top-down, trickle-down economics has already failed. Development projects have in most case worsened rather than improve their conditions - from structural adjustment to regional development programs, need based approaches etc. Let's face it, why is indebtedness to the poor s bad when so called rich countries are indebted to their neck! Why is the UK and the US, having the  the largest number of household debt when they are  also among the richest countries on earth? If debt is a reality for the so-called rich, why should the poor be exempt from this experience? Nations borrow, rich people borrow so why is it such a bad idea for a poor person to borrow? I think it boils down to what constitute a benefit - which to me, lies at the bottom of the arguments here. Some just don't believe in the ability of the poor to do anything for themselves, and others think the poor are too fragile to manage debts...some just think the poor are not a good investment, so they use all manner of arguments and excuses to deny them what others take for granted.
Micro finance for example, promotes and extends financial democracy and empowerment for the poor and to the extent that some of those poor who borrow become indebted does not mean that allowing them to borrow is a bad thing. When a doctor misdiagnose an ailment or provide the wrong medication, you don't hear people saying that doctors are a bad thing or that medicine is bad. The fact that the microfinance industry has not yet conclusively shown that credit to the poor improves or worsens people's welfare does not proof that it is not worth while. If anything, the poor people votes for and belief in the benefits of micro credit is evidenced by the increasing demand for such a service - Isn't that what the neo-liberal price mechanism is all about?
I rest my case.
Fusein

#843 From: Getaneh Gobezie <getanehg2002@...>
Date: Sun Apr 15, 2012 11:20 am
Subject: Re: Re: Is sustainable local development a persuasive alternative to microfinance? | Global development | guardian.co.uk
getanehg2002
Send Email Send Email
 

Dear Linda and all,

Thank you for initiating this discussion.

Good to see proposals towards community microfinance at The Guardian. ....  Indeed there is clear evidence that they are the most sustainable, flexible and client-friendly in most contexts. In the recent microfinance crisis in India (Andhrapradesh, etc), Self Help Groups (SHGs) were the most resilient and continue their useful, good performance while the other microfinance modality suffers from bad reputation and a serious decline in repayment performance (sometimes as low as only 10 percent). No surprise that the recent UN-Women expert group meeting in Ghana (Sep 2011) concluded its recommendations to the UN Commission on Status of Women (CSW) with emphasis on community based microfinance (See Recommendation No. 30 and 31) of the report (‘Final EGM Report’) on the link:

http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/csw/csw56/egm.htm

But one issue here is how to avoid the risk of such modalities (left by themselves) replicating or even strengthening traditional patriarchal systems with serious gender power asymmetries. How can we strike a balance between allowing the flexible community management, and facilitating some 'desirable changes' to the traditional system (e.g women empowerment)???.

On the other hand, I think we need to be careful when we say that there is ‘no evidence’ on clear microfinance impact. We need to take note of the fact that there is no consensus on the impact assessment methodology itself. For example, micro-econometrics and statistical models are just beginning a serious effort on poverty assessment (poverty narrowly defined to mean a dollar-a-day ‘income’). And yet, poverty is a much broader concept. The World Bank itself has accepted this broader concept for the first time (of course, supported with evidence from serious participatory research, involving 60,000 participants globally) in its World Development Report 2000/1 (‘Attacking Poverty’), which emphasizes three related issues of ‘opportunity’, ‘vulnerability’ and ‘empowerment’.  … This is a great departure from the previous concept of money-metric poverty measurement. However, effective methodologies have yet to be developed and/or refined to fully assess impacts of development interventions, including microfinance, on such broader issues of poverty. For example, how can we correctly assess the empowerment impact of microfinance groups to poor women and men, living in isolation and less informed? So, absence of clear methodologies should not lead us to a conclusion that microfinance has no impact! ...... Indeed, much more effort is needed to combine traditional, economists’ favorite, econometric and statistical models (including the so-called Random Control Trials) with more participatory research.

Regards

Getaneh

 


--- On Tue, 4/10/12, Mr Fuseini Yamyia Dawuda <dyamyia@...> wrote:

From: Mr Fuseini Yamyia Dawuda <dyamyia@...>
Subject: [genfinance] Re: Is sustainable local development a persuasive alternative to microfinance? | Global development | guardian.co.uk
To: "genfinance@yahoogroups.com" <genfinance@yahoogroups.com>
Date: Tuesday, April 10, 2012, 10:37 AM

 
I think the arguments raised here ignore key essential facts that are accepted by most MFI practitioners and researchers - that micro finance is not a cure-all nor should be done alone without other complimentary development policies, structures and systems in place. To argue otherwise will be doing a disservice to the true potential of micro finance - that is, to help those in the bottom of the social and financial pyramid in society. Let's not forget that these are the people the so-called top-down, trickle-down economics has already failed. Development projects have in most case worsened rather than improve their conditions - from structural adjustment to regional development programs, need based approaches etc. Let's face it, why is indebtedness to the poor s bad when so called rich countries are indebted to their neck! Why is the UK and the US, having the  the largest number of household debt when they are  also among the richest countries on earth? If debt is a reality for the so-called rich, why should the poor be exempt from this experience? Nations borrow, rich people borrow so why is it such a bad idea for a poor person to borrow? I think it boils down to what constitute a benefit - which to me, lies at the bottom of the arguments here. Some just don't believe in the ability of the poor to do anything for themselves, and others think the poor are too fragile to manage debts...some just think the poor are not a good investment, so they use all manner of arguments and excuses to deny them what others take for granted.
Micro finance for example, promotes and extends financial democracy and empowerment for the poor and to the extent that some of those poor who borrow become indebted does not mean that allowing them to borrow is a bad thing. When a doctor misdiagnose an ailment or provide the wrong medication, you don't hear people saying that doctors are a bad thing or that medicine is bad. The fact that the microfinance industry has not yet conclusively shown that credit to the poor improves or worsens people's welfare does not proof that it is not worth while. If anything, the poor people votes for and belief in the benefits of micro credit is evidenced by the increasing demand for such a service - Isn't that what the neo-liberal price mechanism is all about?
I rest my case.
Fusein

#844 From: Getaneh Gobezie <getanehg2002@...>
Date: Thu Apr 19, 2012 4:44 am
Subject: WORLD BANK - New Frontiers in Women's Empowerment [Liveblog & webcast]
getanehg2002
Send Email Send Email
 
Dear Anuj,
 
Thank you very much for the link (further below) and a chapter. That's good read...... We hope we can also get the book, not just a chapter.
 
Meanwhile, I am giving below the link for an up-comming discussion on Women Empowerment' by the World Bank (NEW FRONTIERS IN WOMEN'S EMPWERMENT - Liveblog & Webcast) where distinguished panel of experts from the World Bank's Advisory Council on Gender and Development discuss and share examples of the work being done to improve women's voice and agency :-
 
 
I hope every one would find this very important.
 
Kind Regards, and looking forward to hear from you
 
Getaneh


--- On Sun, 4/15/12, Anuj Jain <ajain@...> wrote:

From: Anuj Jain <ajain@...>
Subject: RE: PEARLS tool for COOP assessment/ WOCCU - [+ genfinance.info]
To: "Getaneh Gobezie" <getanehg2002@...>, "tools@..." <tools@...>, "l.mayoux@..." <l.mayoux@...>
Cc: "'abinetwotro@...'" <'abinetwotro@...'>, "alemtsehaiej@..." <alemtsehaiej@...>, "'ali2halake@...'" <'ali2halake@...'>, "'b_erena@...'" <'b_erena@...'>, "'bernkatana@...'" <'bernkatana@...'>, "'birukfe@...'" <'birukfe@...'>, "'eltayeb14@...'" <'eltayeb14@...'>, "'getanehg2002@...'" <'getanehg2002@...'>, "'kanoligudina@...'" <'kanoligudina@...'>, "'kebedetezera@...'" <'kebedetezera@...'>, "'neimapeace@...'" <'neimapeace@...'>, "'rashid_t@...'" <'rashid_t@...'>, "rashid-t@..." <rashid-t@...>, "'zedengenet@...'" <'zedengenet@...'>
Date: Sunday, April 15, 2012, 4:14 AM

Hi Getaneh,

 

I have contacted friends in CCA (Canadian Coop. Association) to see if they have access to a copy that they can share; though I suspect that; from WOCCU site, either you become a SACCO member and register with them to be able to download it or otherwise have to pay for the software; which is available online. I will keep you posted if I manage to find out more on this.

 

I have browsed through both the papers and would like to recommend these to everyone, if you can find the time. Please do go through them.

 

In the meantime, I am sharing with you a link; which takes a slightly broader view of ‘gender justice’ and what are the key determinants of it in different  societies. I personally have found this book very simply written; but at the same time, very aptly capturing the thoughts and debates that we otherwise I have in our work and in our minds, about gender aspects of society.  Below is the ‘introduction’ section of the book (thankfully, this is available from the internet for everyone to read!).

 

Yes, let’s keep talking about the gender aspects; with respect; as they form some of the most deep rooted value driven views.

 

Keep writing and keep sending interesting write-ups.

 

Best wishes,

 

anuj

 

Concepts of gender justice

The conceptual essay by Anne Marie Goetz offers a map for understanding gender justice and the debates on citizenship and entitlement. Goetz contends that the term 'gender justice' is increasingly used by activists and academics because of the growing concern and realization that that terms like 'gender equality' or 'gender mainstreaming' have failed to communicate, or provide redress for, the ongoing gender-based injustices from which women suffer. She shows that although discussions of gender justice have many different starting points they share similar, unresolved dilemmas. For example, can absolute and universal standards be established to determine what is right or good in human social relations? The essay demonstrates how philosophical considerations about human nature, rights and capabilities are linked to practical political and economic arrangements in order to establish entitlements that are attached to citizenship, and to the problems of blatant discrimination or hidden biases in the law and legal practice.

Goetz defines 'gender justice' as the ending of, and the provision of redress for, inequalities between women and men that result in women's subordination to men. Seeing gender justice as outcome and as process helps differentiate between what is to be achieved and how it is to be achieved. 'Gender justice', as an outcome, implies access to and control over resources, combined with agency (the ability to make choices). Gender justice as a process brings an additional essential element: accountability, which implies the responsibility and answerability of precisely those social institutions set up to dispense justice. The constitution of gender injustices can be read from basic contracts (formal or implicit) that shape membership in a range of social institutions—the family, the community, the market, the state, and even the institutions of establishment religion. In one way or another, these institutions are supposed to settle disputes, establish and enforce legal rules, and prevent the abuse of power. Understanding the ideological and cultural justifications for women's subordination within each arena can help identify how to challenge patterns of inequality.

Context of struggles for gender justice and citizenship: regional perspectives

The four regional perspectives on gender justice and citizenship are from Latin America and the Caribbean; Sub-Saharan Africa; the Middle East and North Africa; and South Asia.

In her essay entitled 'Refiguring citizenship: Research Perspectives on Gender Justice in the Latin America and Caribbean Region', Maxine Molyneux highlights the significance of a situated and context-specific discussion on gender justice, citizenship and entitlement. There are several points of convergence in the analytic concerns and themes in the international corpus developed in the fields of gender, law, citizenship and rights. However, there are noticeable regional differences in theoretical orientation and empirical focus that reflect different histories and the particularity of contexts within which women's rights are framed and fought for. Referring to gender justice as that form of justice that pertains to the relationship between the sexes, Molyneux clarifies that the just relationship refers both to simple equality between women and men as well as to equality that takes differences into account. The recognition of difference, however, in no way precludes the fact that equality remains a fundamental principle of justice and that in the letter and practice of law, all people are treated as moral equals. In its more common and political usage, gender justice implies full citizenship for women and, as Molyneux suggests, this is what is generally understood by the term in the Latin America and Caribbean context.

Molyneux examines citizenship in Latin America and the Caribbean from the perspective of social movements—especially women's movements—for justice. She shows that women's struggles for equal citizenship across the region share three important characteristics. First, there is an alignment of demands for gender justice with broader campaigns for human rights and the restoration of democracy. Such issues were intensely felt in countries that experienced authoritarian rule. Second, the reworking of ideas of citizenship to embrace ideas of 'active citizenship'. That is, conceiving of citizenship as something beyond a purely legal relation conferring rights on passive subjects, which implies participation and agency. Third, understanding citizenship as a process that entailed overcoming social exclusion, which is perceived as being multi-dimensional, and entailing social, economic and political forms of marginalization.

Celestine Nyamu-Musembi's essay presents an overview of key issues in literature on gender justice, citizenship and entitlement in the sub-Saharan Africa region. She shows that there is considerable disagreement among scholars as to the applicability and relevance of the concept of gender as socially constructed relations to the African context. This has led to debates on how gender justice is defined. Those who deny that unequal gender relations are a central feature of African social relations are more likely to take a less politicized definition of gender justice. As well, they are more likely to adopt neutral definitions such as 'empowerment of both men and women', a phrase commonly found in agencies that have embraced gender mainstreaming. Those who see unequal gender relations as being central seem to take an explicitly political position that defines gender justice as being about overcoming women's subordination. Despite these differences, common interpretations of gender justice that emerge from the literature pertain to fair treatment of women and men, where fairness is evaluated based on substantive outcomes and not on the basis of a notion of formal equality that uses an implied 'sameness' standard. As well, fairness is evaluated at the level of inter-personal relations and institutions; realignment of the scales in women's favour given a long history of gender hierarchy; and by questioning the arbitrariness characterizing social constructions of gender and, therefore, the need to take corrective action toward transforming society as a whole to make it more just and equal.

Nyamu-Musembi questions narrow and linear definitions that approach citizenship as the straightforward, one-to-one relationship between state and the individual citizen. She argues for conceptions of citizenship that take into account the fact that one's experience of citizenship is mediated by other markers of belonging, for instance on the basis of race, ethnicity, family connections or economic status. Feminist and gender studies have emphasized the importance of such a situated understanding of citizenship for women, and how crucial it is that any such analysis proceeds from an understanding of women's lived experiences. The discussion on gender justice and citizenship in the region differentiates between formal and explicit exclusions of women from full citizenship status. Here, formal citizenship is understood as the relationship between the state and the citizen, whereas substantive citizenship is that which goes beyond the confines of formal politics and law to encompass the economic, social and political relationship between social groups and structures of power that mediate the standing of individuals in the polity. Nyamu-Musembi pinpoints those areas where there is outright denial of full citizen status to women. In so doing, she shows that formal restrictions to women's citizenship seems to be the norm rather than the exception—and that they persist, despite recent revisions of constitutions in many countries. The exemption of customary and religious law from the prohibition of discrimination under the constitutions of various countries has meant that unfair rules persist, which pertain to family relations and access to resources. These are unjust to women and other less powerful members of the family. Moreover, they perpetuate the situation where women are treated as legal minors.

With Nyamu-Musembi's essay on gender justice and citizenship in Sub-Saharan Africa we are introduced to the postcolonial dilemmas of citizenship. They have had and continue to have a profound affect on the way women's rights, equality and citizenship are conceived and fought for in much of Africa, the Middle East and South Asia. These dilemmas and the consequences for women's rights and their identity as citizens have not been the subject of scholarly attention until recently. It is only now that these theoretical insights have been introduced in mainstream development studies.

A key dilemma in the idea and practice of citizenship is the way in which citizenship, as a relationship between the state and the individual, is in reality a relationship between the state and groupings representing particularistic identities. These identities may be based on religion (as in South Asia and in the Middle East and North Africa [MENA] region) and/or on kinship groupings, tribe, ethnicity and other formations (Africa). In the first decade of the new millennium it might look as if society in South Asia, for example, was eternally a battle ground between rival religions, Hindu and Muslim, or that African sociology was tribal and that warring tribes was the leitmotif of African society. However, historical research indicates these forms of social relations are of much more recent origin (Mamdani 1996).

These relationships were constructed via the exercise of state power by colonial authorities, in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, which sought to impose a centralizing authority on otherwise multicultural, multi-religious, and multi-ethnic societies with dispersed authority structures regulating relations between groupings. The boundaries between these groupings were often porous and open to compromise and exchange (Kabeer 2002). In subordinating these relationships to the power of the colonial state, the codification of practices and the construction of religious and customary law were used as instruments for defining the specificities of particular groups. Boundaries between communities, hitherto porous, hardened. Each grouping vied for the attention of the colonial state because this was the only channel through which the state dispensed favours. In the process, the 'eternal' rivalries and conflicts between Hindu and Muslim in South Asia and tribal groupings in Africa were established. Gender relations were profoundly implicated in this construction of identities and establishment of such particularistic identities as the via media for relations with the state. Custom, tradition and religion were re-invented in order to fashion personal and family laws (in South Asia and the MENA) and customary law in Africa. These inevitably subordinated women's rights and interests to the control of patriarchal families and elite males (Mukhopadhyay 1998). No matter how constructed these identities were in the colonial era, today they remain as the reality for most people. The state-society relations constructed through this process have not disappeared with the demise of colonialism, but continue to be the way in which state-society relations are organized (Mukhopadhyay and Meer 2004).

The impact of these processes on the present discussion of gender justice, citizenship and entitlement is discernible in what the three authors, Nyamu-Musembi, Mounira Maya Charrad, and Ratna Kapur variously refer to as 'problem areas' in defining and fighting for gender justice and an equal citizenship. Nyamu-Musembi, for example, shows that a key factor in explaining why years of research and advocacy on gender justice in family relations have not translated into action is that in most of sub-Saharan Africa, family relations are governed by an overlap of statutory, customary and religious systems of law. It is not simply that these systems co-exist side by side, but that most people govern their relationships by referencing two or more systems, which makes the search for 'gender-just' solutions anything but straightforward. Among gender-justice advocates this has led to confusion about how best to forward a gender-justice and equality agenda. Some invoke international human rights norms and ideals of 'women in development' to argue that such customary and religious practices should be done away with, through legislation or refusal to accord recognition to their institution. Others acknowledge the challenges that custom and religion pose for gender justice, but also recognize their wide application for the majority of women, thus recognizing the need to engage with them in some form to explore their potential contribution to struggles for gender justice.

In her essay, 'Unequal citizenship: issues of gender justice in the Middle East and North Africa', Mounira Charrad squarely locates the problem of differential and unequal citizenship for women and men in the present-day articulation of state-society relations, relations based on particularistic and ascribed identities of religion and kin-based formations. Charrad defines gender justice as bringing about more equitable relations between men and women with the implication that women become defined as equal citizens with equal autonomy and rights in the social order. At its heart, citizenship involves the mode of incorporation of individuals within the framework of a social and political community. However, in societies of the MENA region, this incorporation of the individual in the political community and the state comes about via their belongingness to kin-based formations. She shows that far from being a vestige of the past, lineages continue to occupy a central place in social relationships. As the link between politics and gender relations, they shape the position of men and women in the family and the larger community. They have a special meaning for women, however, who are subject not only to the power of husbands, but also to the power of kin. The historical processes through which kin-based societies and kin-based solidarities have developed have had a profound influence on the development of nation-states in the region and on state-society relations. Since the state is one of the key social actors involved in the construction of citizenship and gender justice, its power to affect changes in gender relations and to promote formal and substantive equality is dependant on the extent to which the state in question is autonomous of kin-based structures in society.

Charrad examines the history of nation-state formation in Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia. She shows that the willingness and power of the state to bring about those reforms that would put gender relations on a basis of at least formal equality depended, to a large extent, on whether state power was autonomous or primarily derived from particularistic groupings in society. Whereas in Morocco the legal discourse in the postcolonial state tended to enshrine kin privileges, in Tunisia the law provided considerably more space to a construct of the self as an individual and, consequently entailed more rights for women. In Morocco and Algeria, lineages retained more prominence in politics than in Tunisia. Morocco offers an example of how, at the end of colonial rule, women's citizenship rights were curtailed in favour of male-dominated patrilineages. In contrast, in Tunisia, where kin-based formations exerted much less social and political influence in the modem state, women gained significant individual rights, even though many aspects of gender inequality persisted.

Another prominent particularistic identity that has shaped the state's ability to define rules, regulations and arrangements that promote gender equality is religious identity, such as in the case of the MENA, Islam. The fact that Islamic law especially as it pertains to family law (in which gender relations are profoundly implicated) is so diverse from country to country and community to community means it is particularly open to interpretation by those in power. Charrad explains that determining exactly who is doing the interpretation—in addition to how Islamic law is interpreted in favour or against women's emancipation—is to a large extent dependant on the influence that kin and other ascribed identity based structures in society have on the state. Therefore, women's movements for equality and gender justice have their work cut out for them as they manoeuvre for space within these constraints. Charrad also shows that it is not always the agency of women's movements that has brought about change in family law and women's status. In many instances, change was brought about by the agency of the state and state power struggling to break free of the stranglehold of kin-based formations as, for example, in Tunisia.

Discussing gender justice, citizenship and entitlement in the context of South Asia, Ratna Kapur traces the genealogy of the concept in law and shows how legal understandings of gender justice affect women's rights and their struggles for empowerment. Liberalism, she suggests, has been quite central in influencing understandings of gender justice in law, especially with its focus on the autonomous, liberal subject, who exists a priori to social relations. While this influence of liberalism on the definition of individual rights shares common features to those in other parts of the world, particularly in western liberal democracies, the specificity of the meanings and practice of citizenship lies elsewhere. The meaning of rights and the practice of citizenship in South Asia was produced through the colonial encounter and subsequently was shaped by the postcolonial experience of nation-state formation, a process that continues today. The imperial project was justified on the grounds that the colonial subject was so culturally and socially different, that he or she was not entitled to sovereignty or rights. Difference was a ground for denying rights, and was not an argument posited in opposition to the notion of universal rights, but inherent in the universal project. Rights could only be conferred on those who had reached a certain stage of civilizational maturity—and the colonial ruler was best situated to determine when that stage had been reached. The colonial state drew on differences such as rank, status, caste, religion and gender so as to re-order these identities in ways that produced an exclusive definition of the state's sovereign rights and to determine who was entitled to benefits. During the freedom struggle in the Indian subcontinent, the language of rights was deployed towards progressive ends as the leaders of the Indian independence movement invoked civil and political rights in their struggles. In the contemporary period, however, citizenship has been subjected to new concerns and challenges that have at their core the legacy of the past. The conflicts between different religious and ethnic groups, as in India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, have resulted in an increased strain in the boundaries of citizenship, where different groups are pitted against one another in their claims for recognition. For women, the law has been used as both a subordinating tool, as well as a liberating one. Women have won the right to vote and to education, and they have also benefited from law reform in the area of sexual violence. But as the literature indicates, such achievements cannot be interpreted as clear victories. In some instances, they have been achieved by reinforcing gender difference, while in others, as in the case of personal laws, by subordinating women's interests to the claims of family, kinship and community.

Given this heritage, three key issues have dominated the pursuit of gender justice in law. The issue of equality has been a central concern of women's movements in South Asia and has had important implications for the struggles for gender justice. The second key issue is that of violence against women, given that most law reform campaigns on women's rights in the contemporary period have focused on issues of sexual violence. Finally, the issue of religious identity as a state identity and its implication for women's position—especially women in minority communities—has been central in women's movements in Bangladesh, Pakistan, and India.

Gender justice, citizenship and entitlement: strategic issues and directions

Each of these chapters on regional perspectives on gender justice and citizenship highlights the gaps in knowledge and proposes areas for new research. The third section is a strategy note for programme development on gender justice, citizenship and entitlement. It situates the discussion of gender justice, citizenship and entitlements in current development debates on poverty alleviation and social exclusion. Based on the regional papers and actual consultations in each region as well as on secondary research, the note examines the strategic issues, initiatives and organizations in three of the above-mentioned regions. It proposes research agendas, methodologies and institutional locations that are conducive to rights research and which focus on outcomes in terms of public policy changes and application and empowerment of users. While the regional papers in this volume give insights into the issues at stake, the aim of the strategy paper is to turn these insights into a programme of support for initiatives that aim to actualize gender justice through building 'voice' and agency of the most marginalized women. Its goal is to create access and influence in policy making institutions and in building institutional responsiveness and accountability for gender equality.

 

Enjoy,

anuj

 

From: Getaneh Gobezie [mailto:getanehg2002@...]
Sent: Monday, April 02, 2012 3:19 AM
To: Anuj Jain; tools@...; l.mayoux@...
Cc: 'abinetwotro@...'; alemtsehaiej@...; 'ali2halake@...'; 'b_erena@...'; 'bernkatana@...'; 'birukfe@...'; 'eltayeb14@...'; 'getanehg2002@...'; 'kanoligudina@...'; 'kebedetezera@...'; 'neimapeace@...'; 'rashid_t@...'; rashid-t@...; 'zedengenet@...'
Subject: Re: PEARLS tool for COOP assessment/ WOCCU - [+ genfinance.info]

 

Dear Anuj, and All,

 

Very much thank you (and COADY Institute) for the important two weeks training on 'Community-Based Microfinance' and for the link for PEARLS and other WOCCU tools...........  But please note that it is problematic to download the tool itself to use for SACCO evaluation purpose. I have contacted WOCCU several times for this, and still I am trying. ... Thank you also for the previous report on the status of Ethiopian RuSACCOs. I would follow up developments on RuSACCOs and hope the challenges outlined in Phase-One evaluation written by C.S Reddy himself (and Prof. Seible, etc??) would eventually be resolved in subsequent phases.

 

For me, and I hope for many other training participants as well, the Gender discussion has been very interesting!! Thank you for organizing it. I hope such discussion would not stop there, and we can build on it on-line. I would like to take this opportunity to encourage every one to join the GENFINANCE on-going active discussion forum (and useful resources) on Gender + Microfinance. So please visit www.genfinance.info and register for genfinance yahoo-group.

 

Please note that the GENFINANCE-WEMAN team, supported by Oxfam-Novib and HIVOS, have been key advocates on gender issues at the recent global Microcredit Summit in Spain (Nov 2011), and have produced (DRAFT) report on the discussions titled: FINANCIAL SERVICES FOR GENDER JUSTICE. I am attaching the report, you might also visit and download from the link:

 

 

You might also be interested in recent contribution to UN-Women Expert Group Meeting on economic empowerment of women (Sep 2011, Ghana):

http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/csw/csw56/egm.htm

I have attached both papers. .... The key gender mainstreaming tool in microfinance is the Gender Action Learning System (GALS), pioneered by Linda Mayoux (in the cc). Some of the key resources on gender and microfinance from Linda are highlighted in the main COADY training material - gender session. Direct contact would be useful.

 

I hope this helps, and I look forward to hear from you.

 

Kind Regards,

 

Getaneh

 



--- On Thu, 3/29/12, Anuj Jain <ajain@...> wrote:


From: Anuj Jain <ajain@...>
Subject: PEARLS tool for COOP assessment/ WOCCU
To: "Getaneh Gobezie" <getanehg2002@...>
Cc: "'abinetwotro@...'" <'abinetwotro@...'>, "alemtsehaiej@..." <alemtsehaiej@...>, "'ali2halake@...'" <'ali2halake@...'>, "'b_erena@...'" <'b_erena@...'>, "'bernkatana@...'" <'bernkatana@...'>, "'birukfe@...'" <'birukfe@...'>, "'eltayeb14@...'" <'eltayeb14@...'>, "'getanehg2002@...'" <'getanehg2002@...'>, "'kanoligudina@...'" <'kanoligudina@...'>, "'kebedetezera@...'" <'kebedetezera@...'>, "'neimapeace@...'" <'neimapeace@...'>, "'rashid_t@...'" <'rashid_t@...'>, "rashid-t@..." <rashid-t@...>, "'zedengenet@...'" <'zedengenet@...'>
Date: Thursday, March 29, 2012, 1:24 PM

http://www.caledonia.org.uk/nexus-37.htm

 

 

Hi Getaneh, all,

 

Here is where you will find details of the PEARLS tool, this allows you to assess financial performace of a financial coop.

 

All the best

 

Anuj

 

 

Anuj K. Jain

Senior COADY Fellow

Microfinance and Development

Coady International Institute

Antigonish, Nova Scotia, Canada

www.coady.stfx.ca

 

cid:image001.jpg@01CADFB8.12862C40

 

 


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