Blog

This post was written by Habitat for Humanity's Terwilliger Center for Innovation in Shelter and was Originally Published on the Vikāra Institute's website.

The USAID/World Council of Credit Unions’ (WOCCU) Economic Inclusion Project in March introduced to more than 100 representatives of Peru’s financial sector a formal guide that will help them identify the types of assistance refugee and migrant populations need to access formal financial services, and the best practices to help facilitate their financial inclusion.

USAID CATALYZE Peru increases small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and producer associations’ access to finance through an innovative Pay for Results (P4R) program, which helps financial institutions (FI) minimize their risk in lending while growing their portfolios in underserved regions in the Amazon. CATALYZE Peru has signed P4R agreements with 10 FIs, which have committed to mobilize USD24.1 million to the Amazonia region.

(Second in a series of five blogs about the drivers of sustainability in USAID partnerships with the private sector based on the Enduring Results Study 3.0)

Worldwide, the private sector is playing an unprecedented role in shaping opportunities that improve the lives in the countries and communities that USAID supports. For six decades, USAID has partnered with the private sector to solve the world’s most complex development challenges and to help countries accelerate development progress. 

The global call for access to quality education for all by 2030 comes with a hefty price tag. To meet this target, we need $40 billion in additional funding every year for primary and secondary education alone. To begin closing this gap, new approaches to mobilizing more resources will be imperative, since development agencies and philanthropic organizations do not have the funds to fill the gap on their own.

Despite the fact that Guatemala is an upper-middle-income country, almost 60 percent of the population lives in poverty. Agriculture is one of Guatemala’s main economic drivers; it has employed at least one in three Guatemalans since 2000; and in 2018, the agriculture value added was ten percent of the gross domestic product (GDP).

This blog post explores how one USAID initiative got banks on board to provide $1 billion in services in rural Colombia and how this approach can be applied in different contexts.

Nearly 75% of the Guatemalan population is employed through small- and medium enterprises, yet local laws restrict credit unions' abilities to provide loans to SMEs.

Using a decentralized water treatment and distribution system, Jim Chu, the founder and CEO of dloHaiti, is bringing safe, affordable water to thousands on the island. Chu recently participated in diaspora engagement roadshows hosted by USAID INVEST, which encouraged members of the Haitian diaspora to invest in the country’s private sector. Jim Chu loves flying. The Silicon Valley entrepreneur and investor began paragliding in 1993. Over the last two decades, he’s participated in the sport all around the world.

The AVANSE Program—the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Feed the Future program in Northern Haiti (2013–2019)—shows the value of integrating political economy analysis (PEA) in agricultural programming.

Driving interoperable payments in Latin America through the mobile platform BICOO to address key barriers facing the unbanked.

The USAID-funded Climate Economic Analysis for Development, Investment, and Resilience Activity promotes clean energy lending by commercial banks in Central America. Seven banks in the region now have energy efficiency and green credit lines for small- and medium-sized businesses.

Under the landmark peace agreement, the Government of Colombia has committed to addressing land issues by formalizing property rights across the country, organizing the national registry, and recovering lands that belong to the state.

With support from the Cooperative Development Program (CDP), Equal Exchange set out to answer if small farmers are really too poor to invest. In 2010, the CDP and Equal Exchange began working together with six farmer organizations in Latin America building member investment and savings programs.

With the growing need to “do more with less” and demonstrate results when using development dollars, pay-for-results is a compelling solution — one which USAID and other donors will inevitably want to see more of.

In this series, learn how cooperatives can help support local institutions, businesses, communities, and leaders to drive their own success.

Jessie presents Freedom from Hunger's AIM Youth initiative, which tested different models of integrated financial services to help young people successfully transition into financially literate adults.

This post highlights the November 20 webinar, hosted by Microlinks, titled “Youth Savings Services: Are They Worth It?”

At the SEEP 2014 conference, a panel on the ‘Big Data’ Revolution discussed ways to use new sources of information to adapt service delivery and improve approaches to inclusive market development.

We shall not cease from exploration, and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time. —T.S. Eliot

Assessing the Impact of Microfinance Services (AIMS) addressed both sides of the client assessment coin: how to improve impact and how to use client data to improve operations.

Through PISCES, the Program for Investment in the Small Capital Enterprise Sector, operational from 1979 to 1985, USAID and its partner organizations began to discover the principles of success for lending to the poor, opening the way for the microfinance industry.

In a recent Inter-American Dialogue article, a group of industry experts were asked: Where does Latin America's microfinance industry stand today, following a year when the negative sides of microfinance captured headlines.

In a recent Inter-American Dialogue article, a group of industry experts were asked: Where does Latin America's microfinance industry stand today, following a year when the negative sides of microfinance captured headlines.