Pact Myanmar's microfinance and health care insurance program named a winner of 2002 CGAP Pro-poor Innovation Challenge

From the Consultative Group to Assist the Poorest (CGAP) site. Click here to read the full article.

Announcing the Winners of the Round 4 of the Pro-Poor Innovation Challenge

We are very pleased to announce the winners of the fourth round of the Pro-Poor Innovation Challenge. We received over a hundred applications, most from smaller MFIs working with very poor people. Many were exploring innovative ways to provide appropriate financial services. It was a difficult exercise selecting the award recipients from the many applications. The selection criteria was based on depth of outreach, innovation and commitment to sustainability.

While we had initially announced that five awards would be provided, CGAP staff felt that given the great interest in the program, the quality of the applications, and our general desire to strongly encourage poverty-focused innovations, we would provide ten grants rather than five. The following are the programs that will receive the award:

1. National Rural Support Program, Hyderabad, Pakistan. Program for bonded laborers
2. Center for Microfinance, Nepal. Microinsurance services
3. PACT, Myanmar. Extension of primary health care services
4. Jamaican Cooperative Credit Union League, Jamaica. Transfer payment services
5. AMUCCS, Mexico. Transfer payment services
6. Sinapi Aba Trust, Ghana. Development of impact monitoring system to improve poverty outreach and impact
7. LAPO, Nigeria. Development of credit fund for clients to buy shares in profitable privatized companies
8. Horizonti, Macedonia. Outreach within the Roma population
9. Rural Finance Corporation, Moldova. Development of banking links and introduction of non-cash operations to reduce risk and insecurity
10. ODEF, Honduras. Development of system to channel transfer payments

Warm congratulations from CGAP to all the winners, and thank you to all who submitted applications.