Grameen Foundation - Fighting poverty with microfinance

GF Prepares to Launch New Web Site and Campaign to Celebrate Ingenuity

Wed, 21 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0400

On Tuesday, October 27, Grameen Foundation will launch a new online awareness campaign the Ingenuity Fund aimed at inspiring individuals to activate their friends, families and social networks to help raise $1 million online in the next year. Were kicking off the campaign with our $27 on the 27th initiative. On that day, were asking our supporters to make a donation of $27 in honor of the ingenious spirit of Grameen Bank founder and Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus original microloan of $27 made out of his own pocket that changed the lives of a village of female Bangladeshi stoolmakers and helped to catalyze the microfinance movement.

At the same time, our online home www.GrameenFoundation.org will be getting a facelift. Our new site will be packed with exciting new features and more stories than ever about the impact our work is making on helping to expand economic opportunities for the worlds poorest, especially women.

How can you participate in these upcoming activities?

Start following us on Twitter @GrameenFdn
Join our Facebook fan page: Grameen Foundation
Check back here on October 27th to see the new Web site
Make a donation now, or consider making a monthly gift of $27 to demonstrate your commitment to our work to break the cycle of poverty for the worlds poorest, especially women.

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USAID Launches Partnership with Grameen Foundation

Mon, 19 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0400

The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and Grameen Foundation today announced a new private-public partnership to support local currency financing to microfinance institutions (MFIs) throughout the developing world. Alonzo Fulgham, Acting Administrator of USAID, and Alex Counts, CEO and President of Grameen Foundation, today signed a Memorandum of Understanding to formalize the collaboration. To launch the partnership, USAID and Grameen Foundation recently entered into a $162.5 million joint guarantee agreement, which will help MFIs around the world gain greater access to financing and address some of the effects of tightening credit markets.

More than 150 million people around the world currently rely on microfinance, which makes financial services available to the poor for income-generating activities. The current financial crisis, however, has made it increasingly difficult for MFIs to access private capital. A credit guarantee from USAID and Grameen Foundation will support financing for MFIs and thus enable them to continue making loans to small businesses and low-income individuals in developing countries.

We at USAID are proud of our thirty year commitment to microfinance, a commitment that we renew today, said USAIDs Acting Administrator Alonzo Fulgham. Increasing access to finance enables the worlds poor to improve their own lives, and this partnership will enable millions more to lift themselves out of poverty.

Grameen Foundations CEO Alex Counts said We are extremely pleased to join USAID in opening up new financing opportunities to microfinance institutions that will enable them to expand and serve more poor people. Grameen Foundation has been a strong advocate for providing funding to these institutions in their local currencies so that they are better insulated from global financial shocks and can also build important relationships within their local financial markets.

For more information about USAID, visit www.usaid.gov.

For more information about Grameen Foundation, visit http://www.grameenfoundation.org.

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Grameen Foundation Expands Technology Program for Poor Farmers in Uganda

Thu, 15 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0400

As the international community prepares to celebrate World Food Day, Grameen Foundation today announced that it will expand its Community Knowledge Worker (CKW) initiative in Uganda, supported by a $4.7 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The initiative is building a self-sustaining, scalable network of rural information providers who use cell phones to help close critical information gaps facing poor, smallholder farmers. They will strengthen the information link to poor farmers by disseminating and collecting relevant information in these underserved communities.

Agriculture is the main source of livelihood for poor people in much of the world, including more than 75 percent of Ugandans. Through the Community Knowledge Worker initiative, we are helping poor, smallholder farmers, who may meet with an agricultural agent infrequently, access vital agricultural advice, weather forecasts and other information to improve their lives, said Alex Counts, president of Grameen Foundation. Equally important, we are providing a business opportunity for Community Knowledge Workers, who will be providing government agriculture programs, NGOs and other entities with relevant and timely information about the on-the-ground needs of poor farmers.

Working closely with and complementing existing government agriculture programs, CKWs are trusted local intermediaries serving farmers who frequently lack basic access to up-to-date information on best farming practices, market conditions, pest and disease control, weather forecasts and a range of other issues. The CKW model is designed to improve farmers lives by enabling them to get the information they need to improve yields and have broader access to lucrative markets. Upon request from a farmer, a CKW will use his or her cell phone to access actionable information to meet farmer needs. In addition, CKWs collect agricultural information from farmers, providing a vital link between farmers, government programs, non-governmental organizations and other entities focused on improving agriculture in Uganda and beyond. While farmers sometimes have access to a cell phone, this service will greatly expands its availability and also connect farmers to trained professionals tasked with sharing knowledge and information with them.

During a successful nine-month pilot, which concluded in August 2009, 40 CKWs in Ugandas Mbale and Bushyeni districts had more than 14,000 interactions with smallholder farmers. They conducted 6,000 surveys to help organizations such as the World Food Program and IITA (www.iita.org) better understand farmer needs. IITA also created Geographic Information System (GIS) maps showing crop disease outbreaks, the impact of farmers adopting recommended disease control methods, and other important information for farmers and scientists. Throughout the pilot, farmers routinely sought out CKWs to obtain information to help them treat pests, get accurate weather forecasts for planting, and earn more for their crops. For example, a farmer who had lost his groundnut crop because the rains came late and his seeds died contacted his local CKW to access regular weather forecasts so that he could plan the rest of his planting season and preserve his livelihood.

In this next phase of the initiative, Grameen Foundation is building on its experience in the pilot to develop a self-sustaining national network capable of reaching more than 200,000 farmers.

The CKW initiative advances Grameen Foundations efforts to develop innovative and sustainable approaches to use technology for the benefit of the worlds poor. It also leverages the extensive knowledge and expertise from its successful Application Laboratory (AppLab) Program in Uganda (www.applab.org). The Community Knowledge Worker initiative is part of the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Innovation program which is directed by Grameen Foundations Grameen Technology Center in Seattle.

The grant is part of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundations Agricultural Development initiative. The foundation will also announce this grant as part of a larger package of agricultural development projects in conjunction with Bill Gates keynote address today at the World Food Prize Symposium in Des Moines, Iowa.

Melinda and I believe that helping the poorest small-holder farmers grow more and get it to market is the world's single most powerful lever for reducing hunger and poverty, Gates said.

About Grameen Foundation
Grameen Foundation, a global nonprofit organization, helps the worlds poorest people access financial services and technology solutions by providing financing, technology support and management strategies to the local organizations that serve them. It also spearheads technology initiatives that create new microbusiness opportunities for the poor, provide telecommunications access for the world's rural poor, and improve their access to health and agriculture information and other services. Founded in 1997, Grameen Foundation has offices in Washington, D.C. and Seattle, Washington. Dr. Muhammad Yunus, the founder of Grameen Bank and the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, is a founding member of its board of directors and served on the board for 12 years. Since April 2009, he has served as Grameen Foundations first director emeritus. For more information, please visit www.grameenfoundation.org.

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GF's Community Knowledge Worker Initiative Featured in Seattle Times

Thu, 15 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0400
Grameen Foundation's Community Knowledge Worker initiative is among nine grants totalling $120 million that have been awarded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to support agriculture in developing countries. This Seattle Times article profiles the Gates Foundation's efforts to boost agriculture and support poor farmers.

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Grameen Foundation Appoints Regional CEO for the Americas

Fri, 09 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0400

Grameen Foundation has announced the appointment of Alberto Solano as regional CEO for the Americas. Under his helm, Grameen Foundation will focus on increasing access to microfinance and technology for the poor, especially the poorest people in the region, and exploring avenues for using microfinance as a platform for delivering other services to them such as healthcare and education.

We are delighted to have Alberto join the Grameen Foundation team and lead us in expanding our work across a very important region in the fight against global poverty, said Alex Counts, president of Grameen Foundation. Our experience working in Latin America and the Caribbean for almost a decade has shown us the tremendous role that microfinance and information technology can play in creating new opportunities for poor people. Our goal is to drive innovative approaches that will reach even more people, especially the poorest members of those communities.

A native of Guatemala, Alberto Solano will be Grameen Foundations first regional CEO for the Americas. He will provide leadership and management oversight for the foundations portfolio and activities across the region from his base in Managua, Nicaragua. Solano has more than a decade of experience in microfinance, principally in Latin America, and was most recently the Latin America Vice President for Global Partnerships. He has also worked with the Central American Bank for Economic Integrations microfinance and technical assistance programs in Honduras, and ran his own consulting company specializing in sustainable development and microfinance.

In welcoming his appointment, Alberto Solano said, I am very excited about the opportunities in leading Grameen Foundations efforts in the Americas. The foundation has demonstrated a clear commitment to improving the lives of the poorest of the region by supporting excellent microfinance programs and innovative solutions. I am honored to be part of this remarkable organization.

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La Fundación Grameen nombra a Director Ejecutivo Regional para las Américas

Fri, 09 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0400

La Fundación Grameen ha nombrado Alberto Solano como el Director Regional de las Américas. Bajo su mando, la Fundación Grameen se centrará en aumentar el acceso a las microfinanzas y la tecnología para los pobres, especialmente los más pobres en la región. La Fundación también explorará avenidas para el uso de las microfinanzas como una plataforma para la prestación de otros servicios para los pobres, tales como salud y educación.

Estamos encantados de tener a Alberto en el equipo de la Fundación Grameen, quie nos ayudara a guiar la expansión de nuestras actividades en una región muy importante en la lucha contra la pobreza mundial", dijo Alex Counts, el Presidente de la Fundación Grameen. Nuestra experiencia después de trabajar en América Latina y el Caribe por casi una década, nos ha demostrado el enorme papel que las microfinanzas y el desarrollo de soluciones tecnológicas pueden desempeñar en la creación de nuevas oportunidades para los pobres. Nuestro objetivo es impulsar enfoques innovadores que lleguen a más gente, especialmente los miembros más pobres de esas comunidades."

Nativode Guatemala, Alberto Solano será el primer Director Regional de las Américas. Desde su base en Managua, Nicaragua, proveerá el liderazgo y la supervisión de la gestión de la cartera y las actividades que la Fundación impulsa en toda la región. Alberto tiene más de 10 años de experiencia en microfinanzas, principalmente en Latinoamérica, y recientemente fungía como Vicepresidente para la Region en Global Partnerships. demás laboró en los programas de microfinanzas y asistencia técnica del Banco Centroamericano de Integración Económica en Honduras, y anteriormente dirigió su propia empresa de consultoría especializada en el desarrollo sostenible y las microfinanzas.

Al dar la bienvenida a su nombramiento, Alberto Solano expresó, Estoy muy entusiasmado con las oportunidades que conlleva el dirigir los esfuerzos de la Fundación Grameen en las Américas. La Fundación ha demostrado un claro compromiso en mejorar las vidas de los más pobres de la región, mediante el apoyo a excelentes programas de microfinanzas y el desarrollo de soluciones innovadoras. Me siento honrado de ser parte de esta extraordinaria organización.

Acerca de la Fundación Grameen
La Fundación Grameen es una organización global no lucrativa que ayuda a la población más pobre del mundo a acceder a los servicios financieros y soluciones tecnológicas, ofreciendo financiamiento, apoyo tecnológico y estrategias administrativas a las organizaciones locales que sirven a los más pobres. Además, encabeza las iniciativas de tecnología que crean nuevas oportunidades microempresariales para los pobres, facilitando el acceso a servicios de telecomunicaciones para los pobres del mundo rural, y mejorando su acceso a la información en temas como salud, agricultura y otros servicios. Fundada en 1997, la Fundación Grameen tiene oficinas en Washington, D.C. y Seattle, Washington. El Dr. Muhammad Yunus, fundador del Grameen Bank y ganador del Premio Nobel de Paz de 2006, es miembro fundador de la Junta de Directores y sirvió en el Consejo durante 12 años. Desde abril de 2009, se ha desempeñado como el primer Director Emérito de la Fundación Grameen. Para obtener más información, favor de visitar www.grameenfoundation.org
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GF's AppLab Featured in New York Times

Mon, 05 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0400

In this New York Times article, Eric Cantor, director of Grameen Foundation's AppLab Uganda initiative, explains how cell phones are being used to give Ugandans health tips and information to protect their livestock and produce.

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GF Featured in New York Times

Sun, 27 Sep 2009 00:00:00 -0400

Question Box, a joint project between Grameen Foundation's AppLab and Open Mind, is giving poor Ugandans without direct access to the Internet a new way to get answers to their questions. This piece in the New York Times explores its impact.

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GF's AppLab Featured in the Economist

Fri, 25 Sep 2009 00:00:00 -0400

The Economist examines Grameen Foundation's AppLab initiative as part of its special report on "telecoms in emerging markets." David Edelstein, director of GF's ICT Innovation program, and Eric Cantor, GF's ICT Innovation AppLab director, discuss how cell phones open the door to a variety of services that benefit poor people.

Sections:-
Eureka moments
Beyond voice
Finishing the job

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Grameen Bank Announces new Nursing Institute

Thu, 24 Sep 2009 00:00:00 -0400

At the Clinton Global Initiative Annual Meeting in New York City today, Dr. Muhammad Yunus, announced the launch of the Grameen Nurse Institute. It expects to train 1,251 students, reaching 50,000 adolescent girls in rural villages. The Nike Foundation will support the Institute with an initial $2 million in funding over five years.

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GF's George Conard Blogs About Key Role of Back-End Technology in Microfinance

Thu, 17 Sep 2009 00:00:00 -0400

Despite all the attention being paid to the front-end technologies in microfinance like smartcards, the back-end remains an integral component for success. In his first guest post for the CGAP Technology Blog, George Conard, executive director of Grameen Foundation's Technology for Microfinance team, discusses why the back-end is crucial if microfinance is to scale and reach more poor people with more services.

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GF Featured in Seattle Times

Sun, 13 Sep 2009 00:00:00 -0400
In Kenya, microfinance institution Jamii Bora is building and selling homes to former residents of Nairobi's slums. In this Seattle Times article, GF president Alex Counts discusses this new venture as an example of microfinance being used as a platform for providing non-financial and other services to poor people.

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Grameen Health Trust To Launch Bone Marrow Transplantation Center in Bangladesh

Thu, 03 Sep 2009 00:00:00 -0400

Grameen Health Trust has announced a new collaboration with Cure2Children of Italy to create a bone marrow transplantation center to treat thalassemia, a blood disorder that results in excessive destruction of red blood cells and anemia. In this Daily Star article, Professor Muhammad Yunus discusses the importance of the new center to Bangladeshis.

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GF Catalyzes $10 Million Transaction for CARD

Mon, 31 Aug 2009 00:00:00 -0400

Grameen Foundation today announced it has facilitated the first privately placed corporate note issued by the Center for Agricultural and Rural Development, Inc. (CARD) of the Philippines. The $10.4 million transaction, which was supported by a $5 million guarantee from Grameen Foundations Growth Guarantee program and related advisory support, was oversubscribed by six local Filipino institutional investors: Security Bank Corporation, Allied Banking Corporation, Banco de Oro Unibank, Inc., BDO Leasing and Finance, Inc., BDO Private Bank, Inc., and Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation. SB Capital Inc, the investment banking subsidiary of Security Bank Corporation, served as the lead arranger for the notes issuance.

The five-year note is the first ever to be issued by a microfinance institution (MFI) in Southeast and East Asia, and marks an important milestone in opening up broader capital markets to MFIs in the Philippines.

This is Grameen Foundations third and largest Growth Guarantee transaction with CARD and will provide it with long-term financing to expand its outreach by an additional 100,000 poor families. The first two transactions, totaling $5.3 million in bank financing, were partially secured by guarantees of $1 million each through the program.

In the current economic climate, when banks and investors are generally more risk averse than they were previously, this transaction sends a strong message about investor confidence in quality MFIs such as CARD, as well as in the broader microfinance industry, said Alex Counts, president of Grameen Foundation. It also demonstrates how Grameen Foundations Growth Guarantees program is helping to guide MFIs through different stages of financial maturity and investment readiness.

CARD is one of the first Grameen replication programs in the world and is the largest MFI in the Philippines. Formed in 1986, it targets primarily low-income landless rural women and serves over 435,740 clients throughout the Philippines. It is part of CARD Mutually Reinforcing Institutions, a family of organizations which focus on providing financial and non-financial services to poor Filipino women.

This transaction is a watershed moment for CARD, as well as for the microfinance sectors in Southeast and East Asia, said Dr. Jaime Aristotle B. Alip, founder and managing director of CARD. Previously, it was quite difficult to get banks to deal with us, but with the support of Grameen Foundations Growth Guarantees program, we have been able to deepen relationships and negotiate transactions which are more beneficial to the long-term success of our clients.

About Grameen Foundation
Grameen Foundation, a global nonprofit organization, helps the worlds poorest people access financial services and technology solutions by providing financing, technology support and management strategies to the local organizations that serve them. It also spearheads technology initiatives that create new microbusiness opportunities for the poor, provide telecommunications access for the world's rural poor, and improve their access to health and agriculture information and other services. Founded in 1997, Grameen Foundation has offices in Washington, D.C. and Seattle, Washington. Dr. Muhammad Yunus, the founder of Grameen Bank and the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, is a founding member of its board of directors and served on the board for 12 years. Since April 2009, he has served as Grameen Foundations first director emeritus. For more information, please visit www.grameenfoundation.org.

About CARD
Founded as a social development organization in December 1986, CARD has evolved into an outstanding microfinance institution (MFI) that is presently leading the microfinance industry in the Philippines. It is part of CARD Mutually Reinforcing Institutions (CARD MRI), a family of organizations which provide microfinance and microinsurance services. In a country with 4.7 million households (2006 estimate) living below the poverty line, as of June 2009, CARD MRI was serving 1,021,505 poor families and providing insurance to 4.3 million individuals. Since taking off with its Grameen-style microlending in 1989, CARD has spent considerable time in refining the methodology with the end in view of achieving the twin goals of outreach and sustainability. A major event in CARDs history came in 1997 when CARD NGO obtained from the Central Bank of the Philippines the license to operate as a rural bank. In 2008, CARD received the prestigious Ramon Magsaysay Award for Public Service. CARD was the first institution, rather than an individual to receive the award, which is widely considered to be the Nobel Prize of Asia. For more information, please visit www.cardbankph.com.

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GF president discusses Wall Street Journal coverage of microfinance

Fri, 21 Aug 2009 00:00:00 -0400

The Wall Street Journal recently published articles citing problems with microfinance in India and also the future of global investing in microfinance. Noting the tremendous progress of microfinance in India, GF president Alex Counts points out that the microfinance industry had already been working to address the issues raised in the article. He also discusses how accountability measures can further bolster MFIs' effectiveness.

Click here to read and comment on the blog.

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GF Featured in Boston Globe

Tue, 18 Aug 2009 00:00:00 -0400
In this Boston Globe article, GF president Alex Counts discusses the role microenterprise can play in generating economic activity and revitalization in low-income communities in the U.S.

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GF's AppLab Featured in New York Times

Mon, 17 Aug 2009 00:00:00 -0400

In this Thomas Friedman op-ed in the New York Times, Eric Cantor, manager of GF's AppLab operations in Uganda, explains the huge impact access to cellphones and the internet can have on the lives and livelihoods of those living in poor African communities.

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GF Featured in Forbes

Fri, 14 Aug 2009 00:00:00 -0400

GF is one of the featured organizations in this Forbes magazine piece which hightlights jobs that allow you to "make the work a better place."

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Alex Counts and Yeardley Smith Offer Professor Yunus Congratulations

Wed, 12 Aug 2009 00:00:00 -0400
Read Alex Counts' blog about the event, and watch Yeardley Smith offer her congratulations on the GF blog, Creating a World without Poverty.

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Sam Daley-Harris Comments on Medal of Freedom Award

Tue, 11 Aug 2009 00:00:00 -0400
Daley-Harris' comments were posted on the GF blog, Creating a World without Poverty.

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