From Microfinance to Macro Change: Integrating Health Education and Microfinance to Empower Women and Reduce Poverty

This document calls on development agencies, governments, MFIs, and donors to fulfill the shared vision of human development. It proposes a strategy that combines Reproductive Health Education (RHE) with microfinance services in developing countries.

The document:

• Reviews the link between poverty, poor health and inequality;
• Presents microfinance as an effective poverty reduction strategy;
• Appraises evidence for its impact on poverty, as well as its broader impacts;
• Proposes microfinance as a vehicle for improving reproductive health outcomes, HIV prevention and women's empowerment;
• Summarizes studies in Bolivia that are employing this strategy.

It cites the following features of group-based microfinance programs that make them ideal for the integration of RHE:

• They bring poor women together on a regular basis;
• Increased income and assets due to microfinance enables women clients to increase their consumption of primary health services and contraceptives;
• Microfinance empowers women and enhances their role as decision-makers in the family.

The document concludes that:

• Microfinance is a viable poverty alleviation strategy at the local, national and global levels;
• It is the perfect vehicle for offering RHE to poor women;
• Integrating microfinance and RHE is a critical tool for achieving the Millennium Development Goals.

The document recommends actions for development agencies, governments and donors that include:

• Directing financial resources to MFIs;
• Disseminating information about the combination of microfinance and RHE;
• Supporting sustainable microfinance for the very poor.