Sustainable Micro-Finance for Women's Empowerment: A Crucial Instrument for Human Development Initiatives

On February 21, 2010, the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs released its 5 yearly World Survey on the Role of Women in Development, the theme being “women’s control over economic resources and access to financial resources, including microfinance. ” All around this planet, the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) seeks to promote various approaches to reduce human poverty by emphasizing the importance of social inclusion and equity, human rights and women’s empowerment. The UNDP’s Human Development Report, 1995 found that 70% of the 1.3 billion people living on less than $1 a day are women. The UN commission on status of women observed ‘women who contribute half of the world’s population by virtue of an accident of birth, perform two-thirds of the world’s work, receive one-tenth of its income and owns less than one-hundredth of its property’. The report on Feb 21, 2010 emphasizes that increasing women’s access to resources exerts strong multiplier effects on a range of development goals, including poverty reduction, child welfare and economic growth. Despite an increased participation in the workplace, women’s wages, according to the International Trade Union Confederation, are 16.5 per cent less than men’s. In India, women produce 30 percent of all food commodities consumed but get only 10 percent of the property or wealth of the country. As it is clear that the rights and protection of women from social inequalities in statute books are not good enough, some practical solutions are to be acknowledged and most importantly, implemented. One of the potent approaches to women empowerment and rural entrepreneurship is the formation of Self Help Groups (SHGs) especially among women. Women being central to the entire development process and at the precursor of social transformation can be demonstrated with many examples that could include Grameen Bank’s success, SHGs of ICICI Bank, Shakthi Ammas at HLL, Cemex, Amul, the success of Avon, Mary Kay, and Tupperware in US and other parts of the world. There is a delicate need among the poor for credit, both for consumption and production, which often forms the declining line between survival and succumbing to poverty. The success of SHGs as a development tool depends on the availability of Micro Finance. This paper attempts to link all the pertinent points discussed above namely Micro Finance, SHGs, Women Empowerment and Women Entrepreneurship which ultimately constitute major & significant part of Human Development. It is worth mentioning some of the institutions that are both focused on empowerment and are financially self-sufficient, such as Working Women’s Forum (WWF) in India, which organizes women to achieve better wages and working conditions; ADOPEM in the Dominican Republic, which provides business training and training on democratic processes and civil society; and OMB in the Philippines, whose commitment to holistic transformation includes leadership training, personal development and business training. Through this paper the researcher highlights the significance of Micro financing as a an extensive strategy and authoritative tool for poverty reduction and for women’s economic empowerment.