www.bouldermicrofinance.org
The Boulder Institute of Microfinance, and a similar program
at the University of New Hampshire listed below are the premier
institutes where microfinance practitioners receive
advanced in-service training. The resources section of its Web
site contains a wide array of information on industry best
practices. visit website
www.cgap.org
CGAP has its origins in the World Bank and today is a
consortium of 33 public and private development agencies
working to expand access to microcredit. It serves development
agencies, financial institutions, government policymakers,
and other service providers. CGAP changed its name
recently from Consultative Group to Assist the Poorest to
Consultative Group to Assist the Poor. We are watching to see
whether over time this indicates mission drift from supporting
programs for those who need microcredit most. visit website
www.chalmers.org
The Chalmers Center for Economic and Community
Development at Covenant College trains in methodologies
that permit local groups to run microsavings and microlending
programs with little or no assistance from large international
groups. It is a popular resource for church-centered
programs interested in economic development within lowincome
communities. visit website
www.gdrc.org
The Global Development Research Center has a virtual
library on microcredit. visit website
www.ifmr.ac.in/cmf
The Centre for Microfinance based in India offers a wealth of
practitioner training. visit website
http://mdi-nh.org/
Microenterprise & Development Institute-New Hampshire
and a similar study program in Boulder, Colorado, listed previously,
are the premier study centers for advanced training in
microfinance. visit website
www.microcreditsummit.org
The Microcredit Summit Campaign has been on a nine-year
promotion urging the microcredit movement to serve 100
million of the world’s poorest families with credit for selfemployment
by the year 2005. At the end of 2005, it identified
3,133 microcredit institutions that were reaching more than
113 million clients. Not all those loans, however, were offered
to the poorest families, so a second phase of the campaign is
underway to reach even more people and go deeper into
poverty. The Global Microcredit Summit 2006 was held in
November 2006 in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, attracting
more than 2,000 delegates from more than 100 countries. visit website
www.microfinancegateway.org
The Microfinance Gateway is a comprehensive online
resource for the microcredit industry. It includes news,
research and publications, resource centers, and organization
and consultant profiles. It also has discussion groups and job
listings. It is one of the busiest sites about microfinance on the
Internet. visit website
www.microlinks.org
microLINKS is a Web site created and run by the U.S.
Agency for International Development (USAID). It provides
information on microcredit, including lessons learned from
USAID missions, partners, and practitioners. visit website
www.mixmarket.org
The Microfinance Information eXchange (MIX) addresses
one of the key challenges of the microfinance industry: the
lack of reliable, comparable, and publicly available information
on the financial strength and performance of microfinance
institutions (MFIs), which underpins the development
of a capital market for microfinance. It pursues its objectives
through the MicroBanking Bulletin and the MIX (Microfinance
Information eXchange) Market, which provides self-reported
financial data on nearly 800 microfinance institutions, nearly
100 investors, and 140 partners. visit website
www.peerservants.org
Peer Servants fosters Christian microfinance by training
volunteers. visit website
www.seepnetwork.org
SEEP Network is an organization of more than 67 private and
voluntary organizations that support micro and small businesses
in 139 countries and reach 23 million microentrepreneurs
and their families. visit website
www.themfmi.org
The Microfinance Management Institute advances the capacity
of microfinance management worldwide. visit website
www.uncdf.org
The United Nations Capital Development Fund offers an
online distance learning course about microfinance. visit website
www.usaid.gov
USAID is the principal U.S. government agency to extend
assistance to countries recovering from disaster, trying to
escape poverty, and engaging in democratic reforms. visit website
www.woccu.org
The World Council of Credit Unions, Inc. is an advocate and
development agency for credit unions. visit website
www.worldbank.org
The World Bank has numerous resources concerning poverty
and microcredit. visit website
www.yearofmicrocredit.org
This is the Web site for the U.N. International Year of
Microcredit 2005. The objective of the program is to unite
member states, U.N. agencies, and microfinance partners in
building sustainable microfinance organizations. The Web site
has an excellent resource library and database designed to raise
public awareness and support for microcredit. visit website