The Critical Importance of Microfinance Investors

Microcredit is a proven poverty alleviation method whose success has garnered worldwide attention from investors and donors like you.

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Microcredit provides small loans to entrepreneurs in developing nations, allowing individuals to create income-generating opportunities that can lift them and their families out of poverty. Calvert Foundation provides investors like you the opportunity to improve the lives of the world’s poor through our International Microfinance investments. Through these investments, we channel affordable capital to experienced microfinance institutions working to create economic opportunities for people in over 100 countries.

> Invest for as little as $100 on MicroPlace
> Free Kit: Make microfinance a part of your investment portfolio
> Make a gift to Calvert Foundation to help support growth of our loan program
> Watch a microfinance video featuring Calvert Foundation CEO Shari Berenbach

Microfinance and Women
Gender inequalities in the developing world have inhibited women’s economic growth and independence. Women represent the majority of those living on less than one dollar a day, as well as those in the lowest-paid sectors of most economies. According to the 2005 Microcredit Summit Report, of microfinance recipients living on less than one dollar per day, more than 80 percent – an estimated 55 million – are women.

Recognizing these inequalities, microfinance institutions have played a major role in increasing access to basic financial services for women, empowering them to become successful in starting businesses, which in turn allows them to better support their families. Research has shown that microcredit is especially beneficial to women because they:

• Spend more of their income on their households, thus improving the living situation for their entire family, especially their children.
• Typically have much higher repayment rates than men, making them a more sustainable, credit-worthy investment.
• Work well in cooperation with others to guarantee the repayment of loans.
• Are elevated in position in their homes and communities when they are responsible for finances, leading to greater self-confidence, independent decision-making, and empowerment.

> Find out more about investing in microcredit
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