Paper
Discussion Paper: Microfinance and HIV/AIDS
How MFIs can play an active role in HIV/AIDS crisis and maintain long-term financial sustainability
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6 pages
This discussion paper heightens awareness of the impact of HIV/AIDS on microfinance institutions (MFIs) and the communities they serve. The paper points out a range of options open to MFIs that decide to play a proactive role in HIV/AIDS-affected communities.
The paper raises the following questions:
- What can MFIs do in the face of a potential, or growing, or established HIV/AIDS crisis?
- How can they strengthen their institutions so that they can continue to serve communities affected by HIV/AIDS?
- How can they better serve their clients throughout?
To meet the pandemic in its face, the paper highlights the following:
- Access to microfinance services gives households a way to both prepare for and cope with crises;
- It is in MFIs' interest to consider to widen services to match the changing needs of their client base;
- MFIs can experiment with programmatic changes to address the HIV/AIDS crisis.
The paper finally suggests the following basic guidelines as a starting point that can be put forward to bring HIV/AIDS activities into an MFI's ambit:
- Listen more carefully to clients;
- Look for opportunities for institutional linkages to health organizations;
- Observe clients' access to as much high-quality information as possible;
- Understand the stage of the HIV/AIDS epidemic;
- Think broadly, and then act strategically;
- Document and share institutional experiments.
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