Loans at the local level can help alleviate poverty.
Over 3 billion people live in poverty around the world. According to Unicef, 25,000 children die each day from poverty-related causes. One suggested method of alleviating poverty is through small and local financial loans, known as microfinance.
Features
Poverty describes the economic condition of people's inability to afford basic human needs, such as clean water, food and shelter. All eight of the United Nations' Millennium Development Goals, expected to be met by 2015, deal with poverty reduction, directly and indirectly.
Promote Gender Equality
Loans accessible to all members of a community empower women, who normally have the most significant impact on a child's upbringing. When women and men have equal opportunities, poverty rates decline faster and economic development accelerates.
Development
Access to loans promotes employment and trade. Microfinancing a small business can develop self-worth and responsibility among the local entrepreneurs. And businesses started by locals are more likely to become self-sustaining and enduring.
Inclusion for All
Loans allow for the inclusion of people with disabilities as well as elders, who otherwise might be seen as unproductive members of a community.
Spread Education
Microfinance not only teaches loan recipients mathematical skills, but the process also shows the role in development played by the individual and community. Accessibility to loans increases the chances for people in poverty to afford and attend school.
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