Paper
From Exclusion to Inclusion through Microfinance: Critical Issues
How microfinance can help overcome financial and social exclusion in the European Union
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This report presents recommendations from a project that aimed to overcome social and financial exclusion in the European Union (EU) by sharing the experiences of three networks: the Microfinance center (MFC), the European Microfinance Network (MFN) and the Community Development Finance Association (cdfa).
The project specifically aimed to:
- Raise awareness about the benefits of microfinance amongst policymakers,
- Increase awareness about the tools that microfinance practitioners use to respond to the needs of excluded people,
- Identify the constraints and opportunities of reaching out to excluded people.
The project makes several recommendations:
- For policy makers:
- Recognize that microfinance is a key tool in increasing employment and helping people move out of poverty and exclusion;
- Support the use of microfinance for a variety of services, not just credit;
- Work to encourage cooperation between EU member countries, NGOs and private corporations to harness efforts to overcome exclusion.
- For practitioners:
- Develop a wide range of services and products relevant to the needs of low-income people;
- Develop organizational capacity to understand and use indicators in established and emerging assessment frameworks;
- Create a culture of innovation that can respond to the changing needs of the market.
- For networks:
- Promote the creation of a favorable microfinance environment at EU and member state levels;
- Develop partnerships among EU states, NGOs and private corporations;
- Promote the understanding of microfinance among stakeholders.
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