And Its Discontent: Women In Debt In Bangladesh, By Lamia Karim

From a perilous beginning, Bangladesh has attained notable advancements in economic and social development in about four decades. Since it won its independent in 1971 following a bloody war, many, in the international community were doubtful about the country’s long-term economic sustainability. Some observers predicted a state of continuing aid dependency, while others believed if a country with such enormous and innumerable development problems as Bangladesh could make strides in development, then possibly other developing countries could as

In both developing and emerging economies, microfinance has vastly and increasingly been seen as one of the most important means for enhancing the lives of the poor and therefore a major tool for economic and social development mostly in rural areas. Lately, contrary to this widespread belief, critics have raised eyebrows against this growing popularity of microfinance as a major tool for enhancing economic development. Contrary to belief, they are of the opinion that microfinance is a ‘make-belief’ that is hindering economic and social development rather than enhancing it.

Many families in developing nations do not have sustainability in their lives. In her article, “Microfinance Empowering Female Entrepreneurs”, Elizabeth Matsangou writes, “starting and growing a business is virtually impossible without access to financial services.” Basically, Matsangou is saying that in order to start a business, you need help with the use of micro-loans. Further proving the point that micro-loans that empower women and women need these loans. Many women in developing countries start micro-enterprises to help raise money for their family. With this in mind, it is obvious to see what kind of positive impact micro-loans can have on women. Starting businesses are nearly impossible without the use of micro-loans, proving that they can help empower

Another disadvantage is that the deal may be too small for the lender to devote adequate amount of time.

Microfinancing produces many benefits for poverty stricken, or low- income households. One of the benefits is that it is very accessible. Banks today simply won’t extend loans to those with little to no assets, and generally don’t engage in small size loans typically associated with microfinancing. Through microfinancing small loans are produced and accessible. Microfinancing is based on the philosophy that even small amounts of credit can help end the cycle of poverty. Another benefit produced from the microfinancing initiative is that it presents opportunities, such as extending education and jobs. Families receiving microfinancing are less likely to pull their children out of school for economic reasons. As well, in relation to employment,

Background: For years since the rise of microfinance in the contemporary discourse of development, Chotacredit, a nationwide Microfinance institution, has been playing a leading role in the XXX region in providing accessible finance to low-income households as a catalyst for employment creation, poverty reduction, and gender equality. However, in recent practice, Chotacredit has found that the current loan-signing rule which requires co-signature by spouse may potentially limit female participation in the microloan program and program impact. A few valid assumptions have been made: 1. As currently, a loan contract must be co-signed by both husband and wife, and a significant share of the husbands of our female clients are truck drivers, the

Women in developing countries gain more acknowledgement in their cultures because of micro-loans. Microfinance: empowering female entrepreneurs claims that “women’s entrepreneurship has become the prefered method for economic development.” It's fantastic that women are prefered because before women had little to no responsibility outside of the home. Females in most developing countries were treated like they weren't human. They were only expected to make food and feed the children. They would have to beg their husbands for money. The tables have turned and now women are the breadwinners in the family. Women now rely less on their husbands and they are not controlled by them anymore. According to, Geography Alive, in Mali some

Inspired by her own struggle, she has been generous in making small loans to help the underprivileged, “unbanked” female entrepreneurs in her town, in the poor and rural northeastern

The role of Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) in the world today has been increasingly questioned in recent literature as people begin to recognize the flaws of our development aid industry. The article “NGOs – A Tainted History” by Firoze Manji and Carl O’Coill explores the history of the rise of NGOs in Africa in order to demonstrate that their aim is to control and colonize Africa. Similarly, the novel Damned Nations: Geed, Guns, Armies & Aid by Samantha Nutt emphasizes the patriarchal tendencies of the aid industry and the influences of the political objectives of donor countries with descriptions of her first hand experiences on the field. With the articles “Challenging Indifference to Extreme Poverty: Considering Southern Perspectives on Global Citizenship and Change” by Barbara Heron and “International NGOs and the Aid Industry: constraints on international Solidarity” by Molly Kane in mind, I considered the effects and roles of NGOs as development organizations and instruments of change. Whereas the compilation of stories in Generation NGO, edited by Alisha Apale and Valerie Stam, recollected individual experiences of development workers, highlighting the moral and ethical challenges they faced day-to-day. Analysis of the abovementioned readings allowed me to conclude that NGOs are destructive in the developing countries in which they are situated because they impose colonialist influences, are biased towards their political supporters, are ineffective when faced

In recent months a new concept of micro financing has created intrigue. Micro financing has many definitions but the most popular reference these days is the practice of informal loans between individuals rather than institutions (peer to peer Micro loans). Micro financing first became popular in third world countries where entrepreneurs were able to start businesses for as little as twenty-five dollars. Many were able to quickly repay their loans and often times become grantors of other peoples loans. This created a formula for prosperity though admittedly on a small scale. As micro financing web sites began to pop up for use in more industrialized nations one question became obvious. The maximum request is capped at ten thousand dollars with most micro financing organizations. So what enterprises would actually benefit from the loan? There are not a large number of start up businesses that can be built in the modern world for a mere ten thousand dollars. Most franchise opportunities require well over a twenty-five thousand dollar initial investment. Even legitimate home based businesses are not cheap. Surprisingly entrepreneurs seem to be able to do a lot with limited funds. A little research on one of the more popular micro loan web sites www.kiva.org turned up a large number of people with success stories based on loan amounts far less than the maximum. No one had plans to start up a franchise but there were many people with clear and realistic goals. A large number of

In past time getting money in a flash is just like dream come true. But now all dreams can come true with Instant Cash Loans. These loans offer you a helping hand which would solve your financial issue in an instant. These loans can be availed in a short duration; therefore, it is an ideal solution for your interim fiscal shortcomings needs. With this swift fund you can basically meet your every month expenditures like attending unexpected home repair or a automobile repair, paying the pending grocery bills and other household expenses. Borrowers with poor credit status get the approval for instant cash even having bad credit history. The bad credit history of defaults, late payments, payment over dues, CCJs, IVA & so on is not more an issue. As it is a short term loan it carries a higher rate of interest as compared to other traditional loans. The rate of interest is higher due to the absence of placing any collateral as security against loan amount. So the risk is higher on the lender side so they charge higher rate of interest. Borrowers can grab these loans by applying online as it is a quickest and convenient mode of application. With online mode you don 't have to wait a long time, deal with faxing papers back and fill any long form. You simply just need to fill an online application form with your genuine personal information. And after submitting the form the lender verifies the details and within short span of time the amount is credited into your bank account.

However, the author essentially opposes any government intervention towards leading efforts for women. Half the Sky does a good job at creating awareness of these atrocities that occur to women in other countries and how those same atrocities can go unpunished. Narayan, a critic, really helped understand one real issue by stating that, “The ubiquitous insistence that women’s inclusion is ‘good for development’ is not identical to showing that particular forms of development are good for [all] women. Many ‘economic opportunities’ the book celebrates, such as micro-credit, requires shoeless women to boot-strap themselves to ‘success,’ working harder and harder to compensate for the improvidence of men-folk, the impoverishment of nation states, the depredations of corporations, the vagaries of markets and the destabilizing neo-liberal policies of international financial institutions.” While micro-credits’ main targets are to help women in developing nations, it can sometimes do more harm than good in the basis of exploitation sometimes through predatory lending (fraudulent practices). Muhammad Yunus is cited a lot when it comes to microfinance and women living in impoverished foreign countries.

Women are integral part of every economy. All round development and harmonious growth of a nation would be possible only when women are considered as equal partners in progress with men. However, in most developing countries, women have a low social and economic status. In such effective empowerment of women is essential to harness the women labour in main stream of economic development of all the facets of women’s development, economic empowerment is of utmost significance in order to achieve a lasting and sustainable

Granted microfinance has been projected as an initiative, which is targeted solely at women however the ‘types’ of women who participate in this financial venture, remain unclear both in the states which operate microfinance, and the literature which discuss the successes and failures of microfinance institutions. For example, ‘Young unmarried women face very different prospects and constraints compared with older women who may be widowed or divorced’ Johnson (2000:90). A woman who is unmarried may benefit more from microfinance, in comparison to a married women who has duties, obligations and responsibilities not only to her children, but also to her husband, and members of her extended family, and may feel more anxiety and pressure to fulfil these obligations compared to an unmarried women. The case of married women, remains an interesting case, as gender relations between men and their wives become difficult as the lines of financial responsibility become blurred due to men, depending on their wives to obtain these loans as a source of income. This has been problematic as it hinders gender equality as , women have and continue to obtain loans under false pretences, often on behalf of their husbands who continue to exploit them for financial purposes as, ‘A loan to a woman

Utilization of the social spaces created by the CSOs does not all imply that it can result to women empowerment. Civil society visibly creates spaces that offers opportunity for women to be part of the local politics and development but achieving empowerment still depends on how they perform and negotiate in the spaces. In most cases, women’s participation in the CSOs does not challenge patriarchal controls. As shown by Mudege and Kwangwari (2013), resources distribution in the NGOs in rural Zimbabwe could empower individual women because they gain control on inputs for crop production and marketing of their agricultural produce, hence addressing their practical needs for the family. However, the NGOs still fail to advance a truly feminist agenda because patriarchal attitude still exist. This case shows that participation of women in civil society spaces predefined as men’s spaces may not lead to significant empowerment of women. This is because women remains to be dependent on patriarchal systems and has tendency to accommodate existing structures that perpetuates gender inequality.