Conference Report: European Microfinance Week 2017

This report shares the presentations and discussions that took place at the European Microfinance Week (EMW) 2017. EMW is the annual forum run by the European Microfinance Platform (e-MFP) to promote cooperation among organizations working in developing countries by facilitating high-level debate, driving knowledge-sharing, and developing partnerships. In 2017, EMW gathered 490 leading experts from 80 organizations to convene and lead over 30 fascinating sessions on key topics, such as:

• Microfinance for Housing;
• Social performance in Fintech;
• Rural youth and agriculture;
• Social performance management standards: from development to implementation;
• Strategic funding for housing microfinance;
• Scaling up inclusive green finance;
• Digital and customer-centric solutions;
• Investing in MFIs: the importance of human resources to achieving impact;
• Building an enabling environment for low-income housing finance;
• Women clients ≠ women empowerment: beyond the numbers;
• Financial inclusion regulation: challenges for emerging markets and developing countries;
• Financial education;
• Financial inclusion for refugees;
• Leveraging human-centered design to improve digital financial services;
• The transformative role of insurance in African agriculture.