Paper
Microfinance and Women Empowerment: Role of Nongovernment Organisations
Evaluating the impact of microfinance on women
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2 pages
This paper analyzes the impact of NGOs’ microfinancing programs on empowerment of women.
Empowerment means the decentralization of authority and power, aimed at getting deprived sections of people to participate in the decision-making process. The paper states that:
- Microcredit activities by nature involve women;
- Microcredit reaches poor families through women’s groups;
- Self-help groups (SHGs) help women network and become a mass collective power;
- Savings and credit activities bind groups of women together into a cohesive unit and provide a forum for building people’s capacities for poverty alleviation and empowerment.
The study is conducted in Dakshina Kannada District in Karnataka, South India. It uses primary data from field surveys and secondary data from sample NGO reports and other documents. The study analyzes two sample NGOs and five SHGs promoted by each NGO. It analyzes NGO role in promoting SHGs in terms of time series data of sample NGOs and growth of SHGs promoted over the years.
