Women’s Empowerment Advocate Briefs Hill Staff on WORTH

WORTH model discussed during Hill briefing on microfinance in Africa

Washington, D.C. (March 24, 2009) – Marcia Odell, director of the WORTH women’s empowerment program, helped brief congressional staff today on issues of savings-led microfinance in Africa.  As part of a panel along with representatives from CARE and PLAN, Odell discussed the various ways WORTH’s savings-based microfinance component had numerous other positive aspects for the community, beyond making it possible for women to access savings and credit services.  WORTH’s offerings of literacy, small business development and training for women in how to develop and manage a village bank as owners leads to women and their groups becoming effective agents of change in their communities.

Traditional microfinance relies on a microfinance institution (MFI) to lend money to a community or group.  When the loans are repaid, the MFI receives the interest on the loan.  In a savings-based model, a group or community pools its own money to lend out.  When the loans are repaid, the interest stays within the community, increasing the pool of money to lend. 
"Traditional microfinance has shown that women can be responsible borrowers. WORTH has proved that women can become successful bankers," Odell said. 

Using examples from Nepal, where WORTH was first implemented, as well as from countries across Africa, Odell discussed the many successes and challenges of working with some of the world’s most remote and poor women in an empowerment program. 

"Savings based approaches are the best kept secret in microfinance, with only one percent to three percent of all funds that support microfinance, invested in the savings-led sector," said Odell.  "Yet when women in savings-led WORTH groups develop a range of new skills in literacy and small business development -- adding to their training as village bankers -- a new self-confidence is apparent.  The women -- and their village banks - become powerful change agents in their community.  Strategic investment in more savings-based microfinance models such as WORTH and VS&Ls would really put the ‘smart’ in the ‘smart power’ guiding our new foreign policy."

The briefing was held by U.S. Rep. Barbara Lee and U.S. Rep. Donald Payne and WORTH was invited by CARE to discuss the WORTH model at the briefing.   Odell thanked members of Congress, particularly U.S. Rep. Lee and U.S. Rep. Payne for their interest and attention to this issue and encourage more events that showcase savings-based microfinance and women’s empowerment programs.  Congresswoman Lee delivered the following remarks to begin the briefing (courtesy of the office of U.S. Rep. Barbara Lee):

"As the global economy continues to struggle, women around the world continue to be the most vulnerable to the debilitating cycle of poverty. They work longer hours for lesser pay, enjoy fewer economic opportunities, and have less access to government social safety nets.  According to the Global Fund for Women, although women perform more than two-thirds of the world’s labor, they only own 1 percent of the world’s assets, and comprise 70 percent of the world’s absolute poor.  It is no wonder that women are disproportionately affected by economic recessions.

"Empowering women is one of the surest ways to improve the well-being of the family and the long-term economic prospects of a country. In countries throughout Africa, we know that tapping the proven economic vitality of women is enormously beneficial to these countries’ economic growth and human development.

"Microfinance is considered one of the great success stories of U.S. foreign assistance -- due to its ability to reach the poorest of the poor, especially women, and to its proven multiplier effects across communities.  Women have been shown to invest micro-funds in their families and in their neighborhoods at a much higher rate than the general population, contributing to job creation and income growth throughout entire populations.

"Microfinance funds are not a one-time handout, but are regenerative, allowing impoverished families and communities to lift themselves out of poverty. At a time when commercial investments to poor areas are declining due to global economic conditions, an increase in public funding is ever more crucial to protect the most vulnerable and excluded.

"We need to ensure that these funds, and our overarching policies, are effective in promoting women’s economic empowerment and in combating the endemic gender inequalities that continue to reinforce the vicious cycle of poverty around the world."

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For more information on WORTH, please contact:
Marcia Odell, Director of WORTH
(202) 466-5666
modell@pactworld.org