Credit and Financial Services

Poor women find it particularly difficult to obtain credit, in spite of having a better track record than men in repaying loans Credit programmes specifically for women have recently been developed in Bangladesh, India, Kenya and Swaziland We are supporting a group of Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) who are working with the Vietnamese government to reduce poverty in the Ha Tinh province The programme includes a scheme for increasing women's access to credit.

In East Africa, we support organisations providing credit and other services to poor women The Kenya Women's Finance Trust is making financial services available to thousands of poor rural women in Western Kenya In Uganda, where the rural poor find it difficult to benefit from conventional banking services, a village banking project allows both women and men to save and obtain credit We are also providing technical assistance to a Tanzanian self-help company which enables poor women to lease essential equipment to start up small enterprises such as dress making and tailoring, office services, and retail food businesses.