Paper

European Microfinance Award 2016 - Microfinance & Access to Education: Investing in Tomorrow

How the 2016 award winners are addressing lack of access to quality education

Given the importance of the financial barriers in accessing quality education, microfinance can play an important role in supporting the education system in developing countries. The European Microfinance Award 2016 sought to ask and solicit practical answers to a number of questions, including:

  • When governments are unable or unwilling to ensure universal access to quality, affordable, education, how can the microfinance sector help alleviate this stress?
  • How can the sector help ensure that education curricula indeed prepare children and young adults for employment with opportunity for advancement, and not just drudgery and a generational cycle of poverty?
  • How can the sector ensure young adults have the skills to succeed in fast evolving work environments?

This issue of the European Dialogue presents the outcomes of the European Microfinance Award 2016, on Microfinance and Access to Education. The report illustrates the broad range of interventions that microfinance institutions are implementing to improve education access, drawing on case examples from the Award finalists and semi-finalists.

About this Publication

By Mendelson, S., Agnello, F., Guarneri, M., Erice, G. & Rozas, D.
Published