Paper
Facts on Microfinance and Decent Work
Is microfinance an effective route for the ILO to reach its goals?
2 pages
This newsletter discusses how the International Labor Organization (ILO) can make use of microfinance to meet the poverty challenge. It states that:
- The ILO promotes opportunities for women and men to obtain decent and productive work.
- Microfinance contributes to decent work by providing opportunities for:
- Small investments in self-employment and job creation;
- Managing risk through micro-savings and micro-insurance.
The newsletter describes the contributions of microfinance in the following areas:
- Job creation;
- Empowerment of women;
- Reducing vulnerability.
The newsletter also presents an overview of the ILO Social Finance Program, stating that:
- It aims to:
- Reduce vulnerability;
- Invest in job creation;
- Make financial policies more employment focused.
- It focuses on:
- Institutions that work for the poor;
- Market imperfections and social costs;
- Policies that help the working poor access markets.
- It undertakes action research to:
- Show the viability of microfinance;
- Monitor and assess the impact of microfinance on household income and assets.
- The ILO has pioneered several microfinance applications;
- This work has been carried out in partnership with ILO constituents like trade unions, worker banks and employer organizations.
The newsletter also provides information about:
- The ILOs microfinance initiatives that seek to abolish forced labor and child labor;
- A case study on microfinance and bonded labor;
- The challenges that microfinance faces in the International Year of Micro-credit.
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