Grameen Foundation

BackgroundAchieving gender equality and women’s empowerment is a major global priority. The purpose of this study was to determine whether the Building the Resilience of Vulnerable Communities in Burkina Faso (BRB) project, an agricultural development program, improved women’s empowerment, as measured by the project-level Women’s Empowerment in Agriculture Index (pro-WEAI).MethodsThis study used a longitudinal, quasi-experimental study design. Participants included both treatment and comparison groups (total N = 751) comprising female members of savings groups and their husbands or main male household member in Burkina Faso. All participants completed the pro-WEAI questionnaire at both baseline and endline. The treatment group received a comprehensive intervention package consisting of agriculture loans and services, microenterprise loans, and education, nutrition education, and women’s empowerment programs including gender-based discussions designed to facilitate personalized changes in gender relations.ResultsThe proportion of the treatment group achieving empowerment did not change from baseline for women, but improved substantially for men. Women from the comparison group saw an increase in empowerment at endline while men saw a substantial decrease. Gender parity was high for women in both groups at baseline and increased slightly at endline. Women were more likely to have adequate empowerment in input in productive decisions, group membership, and membership in influential groups than men while men were more likely to have adequate empowerment in attitudes about domestic violence, control over use of income, and work balance than women. Participants from the treatment group reported an increase in the average number of empowerment indicators that they were adequate in while the comparison group saw a decrease in average adequacy over time (p = 0.002) after controlling for age, sex, and level of education.ConclusionDespite starting at an empowerment disadvantage, the treatment group experienced gains in individual indicators of empowerment while the comparison group men and women experienced mixed results, with the women gaining, and the men losing empowerment. This research suggests that the BRB intervention may have provided some protection for the treatment group when they faced an economic down-turn prior to the endline, indicative of household resilience. Future research should consider and strengthen relationships between resilience and empowerment.

Introduction: The Ebola vaccine Deployment, Acceptance, and Compliance (EBODAC) project was established to develop a communication and community engagement strategy, including the development of appropriate technology, to maximize Ebola vaccination impact in the targeted population both in support of clinical trials and in the broader vaccination program beyond the clinical trial. EBODAC supported the EBOVAC-Salone trial in Kambia district in Sierra Leone to ensure that the novel prime-boost vaccine regimen is well accepted and successfully used in the context of clinical trials; while also preparing to maximize the impact of the potential deployment of a future Ebola vaccination program. The Mobile Technology for Community Health (MOTECH) platform was utilized and customized to help ensure compliance with the prime-boost vaccination regimen. Its main role was to support the communications and reminders surrounding the Ebola vaccine trial through an automated message service to participants’ mobile phones as Interactive Voice Responses (IVR) and SMS (Short Message Service) messages. Methods: The study was cross-sectional and adopted qualitative and quantitative research methods. The design was constructed to provide a representation of different user segments. The sample size was not constructed to provide statistical differences or detect differences in impact among groups but was simply designed to provide insights into how study participants interacted with the technology. Eligibility criteria involved randomly selecting participants from those that: a) received IVR and SMS and didn’t miss an appointment (booster compliant), b) received IVR and SMS and missed an appointment (booster non-compliant), c) received no IVR and SMS and didn’t miss or missed an appointment (MOTECH non-user). Quantitative information was entered in well-designed data entry templates. All participants’ names were anonymized for data analysis. Results: All the respondents, (n=81) revealed liking both the IVRS and SMS messages and majority of these, 80.2% (n=65) reported that IVR was very easy to understand. Respondents 47.5% (n=45) were comfortable receiving IVR, as opposed to 35.8% (n=29) preferred both text and voice messages. It was also found that 74.1% (n=60) of the respondents who were sent visit reminder messages never missed clinic appointment and 81.5% of those that received information preferred to know how to protect themselves from the disease. Conclusion: The EBOVAC-Salone automated voice messages contributed to valuable learning about areas of improvement for the MOTECH that will be of great importance for future outbreaks and medical interventions.

The residents of several cities and villages in Bangladesh underwent e-health checkups. The distribution of Hb increased from the first hemoglobin (Hb) measurement to the second, and some women recovered from severe anemia. A strong effect was observed in subjects who were prescribed iron supplements. The mean blood pressure improved after the first health examination, and the blood sugar level increased. In countries with shortages of health practitioners and health care providers, e-health examinations and instructions may be useful interventions because they make people health conscious and improve their health status.

Medinfo2013-The 14th World Congress on Medical and Health Informatics, August 19-23, 2013, Copenhagen, Denmark

One key challenge facing microfinance institutions (MFIs) is their inability to access sufficient financing - especially in local currency, which mitigates foreign exchange risk. Most MFIs are unable to meet their funding needs by mobilizing deposits alone, while local banks have varying appetites for lending to MFIs. Strategically using guarantees can open up local markets and, over time, reduce the amounts required as local banks become more comfortable. Between 2006 and 2010, the proportion of total MFI hard currency financing decreased from 86 per cent to 69 per cent - a positive trend that needs to continue. In 2005, Grameen Foundation launched one of the few loan guarantee programmes dedicated solely to local currency financing. To date, it has helped generate over US$188 m in financing through $54 m in guarantees, without any defaults. This article discusses lessons learned; the role of guarantees in MFI capital raising; and the overall impact on both MFIs and commercial lenders.

For over 30 years, microfinance institutions (MFIs) have been successfully serving some of the poor and poorest people around the world, primarily with credit products. Generally, however, MFIs struggle to successfully add savings services to their portfolio of financial products. Whether offering savings as a way to provide additional valued financial services to clients or to have a reliable source of funding, or both, MFIs must learn to bring together people and technology and build the capacity and infrastructure to grow this business. In this article, we explore how market research, product design and testing, marketing, technology, alternative delivery channels, and an MFI's ability to transform from a credit-led institution to a market-led institution can assist an MFI to reach poor savers with products that are accessible, affordable and secure.

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An enduring question for the microfinance industry relates to the issue of balancing poverty outreach with financial sustainability. The recent development of poverty measurement tools such as the Progress Out of Poverty Index) and the USAID Poverty Assessment Tool has enabled microfinance practitioners to generate accurate data on the poverty levels of the clients they serve. Preliminary results indicate that some microfinance institutions are indeed able to reach a very high share of poor and very poor clients, and to do so sustainably. This article demonstrates how two Grameen Foundation partners, operating in very different contexts, have been able to reach a large share of very poor clients and maintain profitability. It shows that there are likely to be a number of key strategies rather than a single, standard methodology for reaching the very poor. The article presents evidence that indicates MFIs that tailor products and services to meet client needs will be successful in meeting the twin demands ...