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Microfinance, Human Security and
Sustainable Development
The microfinance industry arose in the 1970s
to assist those too poor to qualify for services from traditional banks,
and inadequately served by government programs. The initial goal was to
provide small loans to help start up or expand small businesses. It
might seem that the poorest people in the world would pose an
insurmountable risk to lenders, but, through a series of
carefully-conceived measures, this strategy has been extremely
effective. Indeed, by 2004, some 92 million clients had been served by
over 3,000 microfinance institutions.
These numbers have attracted considerable attention. In recent years
there has been a surge of interest in microfinance services on the part
of government, the private sector and the non-profit community. This
interest is driven by evidence demonstrating that microfinance services
(MFS) are successful across a range of objectives. In particular, MFS
are widely seen as constituting an economically sound and profitable
approach to poverty alleviation, economic growth, community empowerment
and capacity building.
The interest has raised a number of questions. Can MFS be linked to
other humanitarian agendas such as human rights, conservation and
post-conflict reconstruction? Given that 92 million clients have been
served over a thirty year period, are broader social and environmental
effects discernible?
This study will examine the relationships among microfinance, human
security and sustainable development. It will fill a gap in our
understanding of microfinance services, and be of direct and immediate
interest to lenders, the sustainable development community, and those
looking for effective and positive approaches to countering recruitment
into terrorism and crime.
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Related
Documents and Publications |
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David Bornstein was
presented with our 2007 Human Security Award for his
work to raise awareness about social entrepreneurs who
are solving many of the world's most intractable
problems. The 2007 Human Security
Award Ceremony, which featured a keynote address on
"How to Change the World," by David
Bornstein, was held on Thursday, October 25, 2007.
Scott Edward Anderson, one of the participants in
CUSA's workshop on
"Social Entrepreneurship, Sustainability and Security:
Mitigating and Adapting to Climate Change,"
has posted an entry about the workshop on his blog
The Green Skeptic.
On October 25, 2007 we
convened a workshop on "Social
Entrepreneurship, Sustainability and Security:
Mitigating and Adapting to Climate Change." This
workshop examined the potential of social
entrepreneurship to
serve as a vehicle for helping vulnerable
communities-that is communities already compromised by
resource scarcity, failing governments, widespread and
chronic poverty, and various health and education
challenges-mitigate and adapt to climate change.
Heather
Goldsworthy and Bryan McDonald presented on “Microfinance,
Sustainable Development and Security” at workshop on “Poverty and
the Environment,” June 11, 2007, Winnipeg, Canada, Workshop
sponsored by the International Institute for Sustainable Development
(IISD).
Richard Matthew presented on "Using Sustainability to Build
Stability in Africa: Strategic Policy Issues for the Army," on a
panel on "Stability, Security and Development," at the U.S. Army War
College.
Richard Matthew spoke
about CUSA's project on "Microfinance, Human Security
and Sustainable Development" at a conference on
"Challenges to the Welfare State" held at the University
of San Diego on May 18, 2007.
CUSA presented a
conference on “Transforming
War Torn Societies and Failing States: Opportunities for
Integrating Microfinance Services, Sustainable
Development and Security,” on Thursday, April 19,
2007 at Georgetown University’s Mortara Center for
International Studies in Washington, D.C.
Richard Matthew
participated in a panel discussion on "From Noble Idea to Nobel
Prize: The Microloan Industry in India and Bangladesh" on November
17, 2006. This event was sponsored by the Walter B. Gerken Chair in
Enterprise and Society Event and The Paul Merage School of Business.
"Surviving in a Changing World:
Environment, Security and Microfinance," an article by Richard
Matthew of CUSA and Anne Hammill of IISD has been published in
The
Green Cross Optimist. This article explores how micro-credit
lending could prove a pathway to a peaceful future for the world’s
most vulnerable people by bolstering sustainable livelihoods and
human security. |
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For more information about this
project, please contact:
Center for Unconventional Security
Affairs
University of California, Irvine
Social Ecology I
Irvine, CA 92697-7075
Phone: (949) 824-8804
E-mail: cusa@uci.edu
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