The Promise of Microfinance for Poverty Relief in the Developing World

Analyzing role of microfinance in reducing poverty

This essay examines the role of microfinance in the reduction of poverty in the developing world. The United Nations Millennium Declaration, signed in September 2000, set eight goals for the UN member states to reach by 2015. The first of these is to reduce by half the proportion of people living on less than one U.S. dollar a day. This essay states that the best anti-poverty strategy would be to use microcredit in addition to other social investments that can expand the countrys social resources. It discusses:

Basic features of microfinance programs and explains why they work;
Major criticisms of microfinance programs;
Implications for microfinance programs and the role of microfinance in the global fight against poverty.

About this Publication

By Ruben, M.

Published

May 2007

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