Inclusive microfinance: Reaching disabled people through partnership development

Anne Leymat

doi:10.3362/1755-1986.2012.004

Inclusive microfinance: Reaching disabled people through partnership development

This study examines projects that support access to financial services for disabled people, highlighting good practices that guarantee efficiency and sustainability of initiatives with a particular focus on the use of microcredit. The study is based on the findings of: a global survey and interviews with disabled people's organizations and microfinance providers; a literature review; field studies in seven countries; and the outcome of two regional workshops (in Kenya and Bangladesh) and a practitioner workshop in Geneva. It is estimated that 10 to 12 per cent of the world's population has some kind of impairment and of those around 82 per cent live below the poverty line. Most people with impairments who work are self-employed. However, access to financial services for disabled people remains sporadic. The central part of the study explores the potential for successful, responsible, and complementary partnership development between microfinance actors and disabled people's organizations. Our findings demonstrate that if disabled people are given the opportunity to access financial services, many are capable of successfully managing loans and businesses - thereby becoming agents of their own development.

DFID (2000) Disability, Poverty and Development, Department for International Development, London.

World Health Organisation and World Bank (2011) World Report on Disability, WHO, Geneva/World Bank, Washington, DC.

Burjorjee, D.M., Deshpande, R. and Weidemann, C.J. (2002) Supporting Women's Livelihoods: Microfinance that Works for the Majority - A Guide to Best Practices, United Nations Capital Development Fund, New York.

Commission Européenne (2000) Microfinance: Orientations Méthodologiques, Commission Européenne, <http://www.lamicrofinance.org/content/article/detail/14581≯ [last accessed 2 February 2012] http://www.lamicrofinance.org/content/article/detail/14581

Dyer, S. (2003) ‘The inclusion of disabled people in mainstream micro finance programmes’, paper presented at the Staying Poor: Chronic Poverty and Development Policy Conference, Manchester, 7-9 April 2003 [website], Leonard Cheshire International, London <http://www.chronicpoverty.org/uploads/publication_files/CP_2003_Dyer.pdf≯ [last accessed 2 February 2012]. http://www.chronicpoverty.org/uploads/publication_files/CP_2003_Dyer.pdf

Eugene O.R. Mobility International USA (1998) Loud, Proud and Prosperous! Report on the MIUSA International Symposium on Microcredit for Women with Disabilities, 29 August to 8 September 1998.

Handicap International (2004) Lessons Learned Workshop: A Review of Assistance Programs for War Wounded and other Persons with Disabilities Living in Mine-Affected Countries, Handicap International, Paris, 25-28 May 2004.

Hashemi, S. and Rosenberg, R. (2006) Graduating the Poorest into Microfinance: Linking Safety Nets and Financial Services [website], Consultative Group to Assist the Poor, Washington, DC <www.cgap.org/p/site/c/template.rc/1.9.2586/≯ [last accessed 2 February 2012]. www.cgap.org/p/site/c/template.rc/1.9.2586/

Hulme, D. (1995) ‘Finance for the poor, poorer or poorest? Financial innovation, poverty and vulnerability’, paper prepared for Finance Against Poverty Conference, University of Reading, 27-28 March 1995.

Ledgerwood, J. (1999) The Microfinance Handbook: An Institutional and Financial Perspective (Sustainable banking with the poor), World Bank, Washington, DC.

Lewis, C. (2004) ‘Microfinance from the Point of View of Women with Disabilities: Lessons from Zambia and Zimbabwe’, Gender and Development 12: May 2004.

Mersland, R. (2005) Microcredit for Self-employed Disabled Persons in Developing Countries [website], a study commissioned by Atlas Alliance, Oslo <http://www.microfinancegateway.org/p/site/m//template.rc/1.9.24229≯ [last accessed 2 February 2012]. http://www.microfinancegateway.org/p/site/m//template.rc/1.9.24229

Neufeldt, A. and Albright, A. (1998) Disability and Self-directed Employment: Business Development Models, IDRC, Ontario, Canada.

Standing Tall Australia and Mine Action Canada (2005) 101 Great Ideas for the Socio-Economic Reintegration of Mine Survivors, Standing Tall Australia, Toowong and Mine Action Canada, Ottawa.

Thomas, M. (2002) ‘Feasibility of integrating disabled people in savings and credit programmes in Bangladesh’, Asia Pacific Disability Rehabilitation Journal 11 <www.dinf.ne.jp/doc/english/asia/resource/apdrj/z13jo0500/z13jo0509.html≯ [last accessed 2 February 2012]. www.dinf.ne.jp/doc/english/asia/resource/apdrj/z13jo0500/z13jo0509.html

UNCDF (2006) Building Inclusive Financial Sectors for Development [website], United Nations Capital Development Fund, New York <http://www.uncdf.org/english/microfinance/uploads/thematic/Building_Inclusive_Financial_Sectors_The_Blue_Book.pdf≯ [last accessed 2 February 2012]. http://www.uncdf.org/english/microfinance/uploads/thematic/Building_Inclusive_Financial_Sectors_The_Blue_Book.pdf