Nearly three billion poor people in developing countries lack access to the basic financial services – such as a small loan or a safe place to save – needed to help them manage their precarious lives. At the core of microfinance is a fundamental belief that access to financial services empowers the poor by reducing their vulnerability and giving them choices. Whether they save or borrow, evidence around the world shows that when poor people have access to financial services, they choose to invest these savings or loans into building a range of assets that will make them less vulnerable. Such assets can be sending their children to school, buying medicines and more nutritious food, fixing a leaky roof, or building income-earning potential by investing in their own enterprises. In essence, access to financial services enables poor people to build their own way out of poverty. (About CGAP 1/2).
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There is nothing « micro » about poverty: The numbers astound: one in two human beings lives on $2 a day, or less. As many lack public sanitation. Two billion want for electricity, a billion more for clean water. The challenge is immense, but the fight against poverty often begins at the smallest level … (full text);
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(About CGAP 2/2): Who We Are: CGAP is a consortium of 33 public and private funding organizations – bilateral and multilateral development agencies, private foundations, and international financial institutions – working together to expand poor people’s access to financial services.
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