Microbusiness Helps Women Weather Crisis

LIMA, May 15 2009 (IPS) Microenterprise is an escape valve for social tension at times of crisis, and microbusinesses do a canada goose uk black friday better job of weathering the storm than bigger companies because they are used to overcoming difficulties a positive effect that is further multiplied when it canada goose outlet store involves women.

Artisans at work. Credit: Maritza Asencios/IPS

owners have always operated in tough conditions. For them, canada goose outlet canada there has always been a crisis, Sonia Arenaza, a Peruvian member of uk canada goose outlet ACCIN International a Boston, Massachusetts based microfinance network involved in Africa, Asia and Latin America told IPS.

is a reality that you see in Peru as well as the rest of Latin America and developing countries in general, said Arenaza.

The microfinance expert also confirmed that this time of global financial crisis, women who run microbusinesses are doing a better job at withstanding the negative effects, as shown by numerous studies.

are performing better in financial and entrepreneurial terms, she said.

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In Peru, the impact of the global crisis has led to a plunge in exports, spending cuts and a rise in social tension, especially among the poor.

Against that backdrop, microfinance takes on a special importance because it channels funds into keeping afloat cheap canada goose uk small businesses, which are a lifeline for the lowest income sectors, said Arenaza.

In Peru, which has an economically active population of 10.6 million people, 35 percent of whom are women, there are an estimated three million microbusinesses, which by definition employ five or less people.

Microloans are canada goose clearance mainly granted in developing countries, fomented by government policies, local and international NGOs, and regulated financial institutions.

The Inter American Development Bank canada goose outlet nyc (IDB) Multilateral Investment Fund reports that there are 565 microfinance institutions in Latin America and the Caribbean financing around nine million microenterprises, with canada goose outlet online an outstanding loan portfolio of 9.2 billion dollars, which https://www.mild-und-leise.de covers 13 percent of demand for microlending.

But the advantages of channeling financial services and products canada goose outlet Canada Goose Coats On Sale parka to female microenterprise owners are not limited to times of crisis, said Arenaza.

has a multiplier effect in terms of development, in first canada goose outlet canada goose uk outlet toronto factory place related to the microenterprise itself and the improvement of its business, and in second place related to the home and the improvement of living conditions for the microbusiness owner canada goose factory outlet family, like health and education for the children, she said.

Statistics show that women all around the world are better borrowers, when they manage to gain access to loans, the expert said.

But microfinance should also focus on women because they have traditionally been marginalised by lending institutions and because a large proportion of them are among the poorest of the poor.

Women ability to combine and family roles in microfinance activities means microcredits to women can have a greater impact, on their families and on society as a whole, in terms of expanding progress and social improvements, Arenaza added. President Barack Obama announced the creation of a microfinance fund to promote development in the western hemisphere.

An index called Microscope on the Microfinance Business Environment in Latin America and the Caribbean, carried out by the Economist Intelligence Unit a canada goose outlet specialised service of the British magazine The Economist and commissioned by the IDB and the Andean Development Corporation, ranked Peru at the top of the list in Canada Goose Parka 2008, pushing aside Bolivia.

The ranking is based on three aspects of microfinance: the regulatory framework, the investment climate and institutional development.

Peru and Bolivia are followed on the index by Ecuador, El Salvador, Colombia, Nicaragua, Guatemala and Paraguay.

In Peru, the number canada goose outlet black friday of groups of women who have used microlending to improve their incomes and lives has grown.

Rosa Pacheco is one illustration of the trend. She embroiders traditional handbags canada goose outlet jackets and purses for Casa Betania (Casabet), a small company that she founded with several other women to generate an income for the poorest women served by community soup kitchens in the slums of the Lima neighbourhood of San Martn de Porres.