Worldwide, microfinance institutions provide financial and non-financial products and services to over 140 million low-income clients. Microfinance is key to finance income-generating activities, not only in the formal but also in the informal sector. In the Covid-19 crisis, both micro-enterprises in the informal economy and small businesses overall form an essential basis for social and economic recovery. Supporting microfinance institutions in this context is therefore of vital importance to protect the most vulnerable borrowers.
At the initiative of Grameen Crédit Agricole Foundation, Inpulse have worked together with a group of microfinance lenders and key players in inclusive finance to set principles to support the microfinance sector in the crisis caused by the Covid-19. The coalition has issued a pledge “Key principles to protect microfinance institutions and their clients in the Covid-19 crisis” aiming at guiding lenders and stakeholders to better support MFIs and their fragile clienteles during this crisis.
The signatories welcome additional stakeholders to join this common and engaged initiative. The involvement of private, public and solidarity players is key in the global assessment and support to the microfinance institutions’ actions. It is essential to reinforce the impact of financial inclusion to fight poverty in this unprecedented context.
Find the common pledge here: Principles to protect MFIs and their clients in COVID-19 crisis
