Creating Economic Self-Sufficiency through Village Model Micro-Lending

For a successful microcredit program should ownership rest with the participants?

This paper was presented at "Women Working to Make a Difference", IWPR's Seventh International Women's Policy Research Conference in June 2003. It states that the basis for success of the micro-credit lending program lies in its ownership by its women participants.

The paper asserts that both in the United States of America (USA) and in India, it is the women who are traditionally and historically most affected by poverty. The author:

States that though the lives of the women in India and in the USA seem worlds apart, both the countries are working to make a difference in their lives through financial services designed specifically for them including micro-credit lending;
Narrates the stories from Bangladesh and the USA of women who are struggling to provide for basic needs for themselves and their families;
Highlights the changes that micro-credit interventions like Grameen and Thrive have brought about to the lives of women.