Queen Rania, who is a long-time supporter of micro-finance and member of FINCA International’s Board of Directors, said,
"I
know that creating opportunity in my region is not an option; it is a
necessity…[and] it is clear that programs like FINCA can help lay a firm
foundation – for employment and empowerment and self confidence and
hope."
The Village Banking Campaign’s goals are to operate 100,000 Village Banks, serving those living on less than $2 a day, annually by 2010.
Reaching
this goal will allow all of FINCA’s subsidiaries on four continents to be
financially self-sustaining, unlocking capital markets, and expanding
outreach to millions more people.
Queen
Rania spoke of why such programs are so essential. "To my mind,
micro-finance is both a sound and a smart investment – not only in lifting
the lives of the working poor, but in stitching together the fragile,
fraying seams of our troubled world," she said.
Her
Majesty also spoke of some of the success stories she has seen during her
visits to micro-finance beneficiaries in
"I
know there are resourceful women and men across the Arab world who are eager
to start small businesses of their own – if only someone gives them a
chance," she said as she highlighted some of the many success stories
she has seen across
Expressing
her pride that FINCA
"While
the solution to that 'macro-challenge' can not be micro-finance alone, it is
clear that programs like FINCA can help lay a firm foundation for
employment, and empowerment, and self confidence, and hope," she said.
Village Banking is a unique and transparent method of micro-finance that puts small loans as small as $50 in the hands of very poor families through community financial associations in which loans are guaranteed by the recipients themselves.
More
than 91 cents of every dollar donated to FINCA goes directly to loan
capital, and approximately 97-percent of loans are repaid, an extremely high
figure compared to commercial loans, and one of the highest repayment rates
in the industry.
Village
Banking Campaign Co-chair Natalie Portman has produced a documentary about
FINCA’s work in
FINCA
will premier the documentary and other content on the Village Banking
Campaign’s MySpace page, found at www.myspace/villagebanking.com
The
Campaign’s goals also include expanding into new regions including the
Greater Middle East and
As
the first step toward that expansion, FINCA announced its entry into
Executive
Director Rupert Scofield said, "Our commitment in opening a
microfinance program in
"We
bring more than two decades of best practices and technical assistance to
this fledgling program, and are excited about introducing new products and
strategic alliances to the country."
For the past 10 years, FINCA and AIGs groundbreaking strategic alliance has provided the working poor with a range of insurance products which reduces their vulnerability to economic shocks such as risks from natural disasters; loss of income due to injury, life-threatening illness and death of the main income provider; and the destruction or loss of business assets, which threaten to push them back into poverty.
This
additional $1.5 million grant from AIG will enhance FINCA’s capacity to
offer a wider range of microinsurance products to an increasing number of
the world’s working poor so that, for the first time, they have
access to a safety net.
Martin
Sullivan, AIG president and chief executive officer, said, “The world’s
poorest people face daunting challenges. Over the past decade, FINCA and AIG
have pioneered the development of microinsurance products that provide
security never before available to some of the world’s most vulnerable
people. Together, we want to broaden the reach of these innovative
products through the Village Banking Campaign.”
The
AIG grant also provides for education training for Village Banking staff and
clients to ensure microinsurance clients are properly prepared to grow their
businesses, and strengthen the Village Banks’ institutional risk
management programs to help the Campaign meet its goals.
About
the Village Banking Campaign
Co-chairs
§
Her
Majesty Queen Rania Al-Abdullah of the
§
Natalie
Portman, FINCA Ambassador of Hope
Steering
Committee
§
Lisa
Caputo, President, Women & Company
§
Ned
Cloonan, Vice President, AIG
§
John
Elkins, Executive Vice President, Visa International
§
Francis
Fukuyama, Ph.D., Director of International Development Programs, The
§
Richard
Plepler, Executive Vice President, HBO
§
Jeffrey
Sachs, Director, Earth Institute at
Information
about the Village Banking Campaign can be found at www.villagebanking.org
and on MySpace at:www.myspace.com/villagebanking.com
FINCA is a leading international microfinance organization that provides financial services to the world's lowest-income entrepreneurs, helping them to create jobs, build assets and improve their standard of living.
For more than twenty years, FINCA has been committed to breaking the cycle of poverty by providing community-based credit and savings opportunities.
Currently, FINCA operates with a distinctive, integrated business model that accepts donations and investment dollars, an approach that leverages available capital and promotes greater transparency, sustainability and higher standards of business practices.
This has allowed FINCA to achieve balanced financial and social performance unmatched in its industry while opening the path to socio-economic development for the lowest-income citizens of the world.
Based
in
