Supporting civic activism among chronically poor women

This study was undertaken with the support of the Chronic Poverty Research Centre, the Overseas Development Institute, and the George Washington University. Through in-country and desk research, the research team assessed the extent to which multidimensional women’s microfinance groups in Bolivia and Bangladesh are capable of supporting civic activism among chronically poor women. For the purpose of this paper, multidimensional microfinance programmes are defined as those that offer more than finance services; they also offer social services often through a group-lending model. These programmes move beyond microfinance alone and have the capacity to reduce the vulnerabilities chronically poor women face. Where microfinance organisations, groups or programmes are mentioned, this paper refers specifically to multidimensional microfinance organisations, groups or programmes, unless otherwise stated.