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6 U. Md. L.J. Race, Religion, Gender & Class 353 (2006)
Women and Microfinance: Why We Should Do More

handle is hein.journals/margin6 and id is 357 raw text is: WOMEN AND MICROFINANCE: WHY WE SHOULD DO MORE ELISSA MCCARTER* The last twenty years have shown that microfinance is a proven development tool capable of providing vast numbers of the poor, particularly women, with sustainable financial services to support their livelihoods. The 2005 State of the Microcredit Summit Campaign reports that microfinance institutions reached over ninety-two million clients and benefited 333 million family members.1 The success of microfinance represents a paradigm shift in the development industry: poor people are no longer recipients of charity, but customers to be served. Women make up approximately eighty-three percent, or sixty- 2 six million, of reported microfinance clients. They not only make good clients - women have proven better at paying on time than men - but are also key drivers of development. Investing in women, literally, has proven the most effective way to increase individual family expenditures on health and education, improve nutrition and food security, protect against emergencies, and begin the slow process of tackling the gender inequalities that hinder development in so many countries around the world. This article examines the microfinance movement and the impact it has had on women who, in many ways, have been the reason behind its success. In developing countries, women play a pivotal role as risk managers and drivers of development, particularly in settings of severe poverty. Microfinance programs have enabled thousands of women to use small sums in creative and successful ways to develop livelihoods, improve their families' well-being, and build up savings. However, microfinance has proven limited in its ability to really empower women, create upward mobility, and contribute to long-term economic growth. More is needed if we are to help the poor, especially * Elissa McCarter is the Director of the Office of Development at CHF International Headquarters, where she manages CHF's global microfinance portfolio in ten countries around the world. In addition, she serves on the Steering Committee of the Coalition Advocating Human Security at the University of California-Irvine, as well as the Steering Committee of the Washington, D.C. Chapter of Women Advancing Microfinance. Ms. McCarter received an M.S. in International Development from the joint degree program of Georgetown University School of Foreign Service and Institut d'Etudes Politiques de Paris. 1. See SAM DALEY-HARRIS, STATE OF THE MICROCREDIT SUMMIT CAMPAIGN REPORT 1 (2005), available at http://www.microcreditsummit.org/pubs/reports/socr/2005/SOCRO5.pdf. 2. Id. at 25.

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