Bringing Power to India’s Poorest Women Workers How many times do we need to prove that poor women are bankable?” asks Jayshree Vyas, managing director of the SEWA bank. In the case of this cooperative bank it has proven that about 97 per cent of its lenders meet their repayments – a better rate than […]

Rural women in developing countries are at a serious disadvantage when trying to access credit. ORUDE, the Organization for Rural Development, is a grassroots NGO in south-eastern Uganda. Formed in 1997, the organization had been mobilizing and training rural women’s economic groups and preparing them to absorb credit. It then helped the groups to open […]

At the cobblestoned corner of 4 Norte and 4 Oriente, 400 indigenous women sell their work. Embroidered shirts, jewelry, paper hangings and other traditional handcrafts fill shelves and line walls. Craft shops are no rare thing in the historic downtown of Puebla, Mexico and tourists flock through the streets clutching plastic bags stuffed with gifts […]