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This advocacy booklet calls for integration of reproductive health education with microfinance services in developing countries. It presents individual stories, case studies and dramatic findings to show the impact this combination can have on reducing poverty and improving individual lives.

The document discusses:

• the link between poverty, poor health outcomes and inequality
• microfinance as an effective poverty reduction strategy
• microfinance as a vehicle for improving reproductive health outcomes, HIV prevention and women’s empowerment

Eight recommendations are put forward for development agencies, governments and donors:

• direct significant financial resources to relevant microfinance organisations explicitly for the integration of reproductive health education
• promote combining reproductive health education and microfinance to other development bodies, governments and donors by disseminating this document, hosting briefings, and creating other advocacy tools
• support sustainable microfinance for the very poor as a primary strategy for achieving the MDGs through declarations, presentations and publications
• advocate for and fund evaluation efforts to assess the impact of integrated reproductive health education and microfinance services on reproductive health outcomes for poor families
• identify, collaborate with and support institutions, both practitioners and international technical assistance providers, that offer experience and competencies for the combination of reproductive health education with microfinance
• organise donor symposiums on the topic featuring leaders from a variety of institutions, such as BRAC, Grameen Bank, Pro Mujer, CRECER and Freedom from Hunger
• capitalise on the existing momentum created by the Microcredit Summit Campaign’s integration workshops by promoting and supporting the continuation of workshops and other mechanisms for disseminating integration strategies
• sponsor trips for donor agencies, journalists, and parliamentarians to visit leading microfinance institutions that integrate sustainable microfinance for the very poor with reproductive and other health education

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