The Microcredit Summit Campaign

Papers Commissioned by the Microcredit Summit Campaign

The following papers were prepared for the Microcredit Summit Campaign by leaders in the field of microcredit. Select a paper below to read the executive summary, then choose the format in which to read it. These papers are available as ".pdf" files that can be saved and viewed off-line. You will need Adobe Acrobat Reader to view these files. To download Adobe Acrobat Reader for free, click here, then return to this page to download the papers. You may also read the papers directly on your web browser or download the ".doc" format for a Word document of the paper. If you have difficulty accessing these papers, please contact the Microcredit Summit Secretariat by e-mail. The papers are now available on this site in Spanish and French.

These six commissioned papers were discussed in Plenary Session at the Microcredit Summit +5 and have been compiled in a book entitled Pathways Out of Poverty: Innovations in Microfinance for the Poorest Families, published by Kumarian Press in November of 2002. Hard copies of the book can be ordered using our Materials Order Form.

The latest papers, commisioned for the Global Microcredit Summit 2006, are available in the book More Pathways Out of Poverty. The book in English is available from Kumarian Press.

Ensuring Impact: Reaching the Poorest while Building Financially Self-Sufficient Institutions, and Showing Improvement in the Lives of the Poorest Women and Their Families

Anton Simanowitz
Programme Manager, ImpAct, Institute of Development Studies at the University of Sussex

Building Better Lives: Sustainable Integration of Microfinance with Education in Child Survival, Reproductive Health, and HIV/AIDS Prevention for the Poorest Entrepreneurs

Christopher Dunford
President, Freedom from Hunger

Innovations from the Field: A Daringly Brief Summary of a Huge Phenomenon

John K. Hatch
Founder, FINCA International
Sarah R. Levine
Amanda Penn

Empowering Women Through Microfinance

Susy Cheston
Senior Vice President, Policy and Research, Opportunity International;
Executive Director Emeritus of the Womens' Opportunity Fund
Lisa Kuhn
Program Analyst, Opportunity International

Financing Microfinance for Poverty Reduction

David S. Gibbons
Managing Director, CASHPOR Financial and Technical Services, Malaysia
Jennifer W. Meehan
Financial Director, CASHPOR Financial and Technical Services, Malaysia

Policies, Regulations and Systems that Promote Sustainable Financial Services to the Poor and Poorest

Women's World Banking

Commissioned for the Latin America / Caribbean Region Microcredit Summit:

The Profile of Microfinance in Latin America in Ten Years: Vision & Characteristics Executive Summary and Full Text

Maria Otero
President and CEO of ACCION International
Beatriz Marulanda

Previously released papers:

Creating Autonomous National and Sub-regional Microcredit Funds Updated January 5, 2001

Dr. Salehuddin Ahmed
Managing Director, Palli Karma-Sahayak Foundation (PKSF)

The Microcredit Summit's Challenge: Working Towards Institutional Financial Self-Sufficiency while Maintaining a Commitment to Serving the Poorest Families Updated June 2000

David S. Gibbons
Managing Director, CASHPOR Financial and Technical Services
Jennifer W. Meehan
Financial Advisor, CASHPOR Financial and Technical Services

Measuring Transformation: Assessing and Improving the Impact of Microcredit
Part I | Part II | Part III | Part IV

Susy Cheston
Executive Director, Womens Opportunity Fund
Larry Reed
Managing Director, Opportunity International Network
Suzy Salib
Program Manager, Women's Opportunity Fund
Rodger Voorhies
Assistant Regional Director for Africa, Opportunity International Network
James Copestake
Centre for Development Studies, Bath University-UK
Md. Mustafa Kamal
Mitzi Machado
Trust Bank Program Coordinator, AGAPE
Ana Laura Valazza
Technical Advisor, Opportunity International Network

Overcoming the Obstacles of Identifying the Poorest Families: Using Participatory Wealth Ranking (PWR), the CASHPOR House Index (CHI), and Other Measurements to Identify and Encourage the Participation of the Poorest Families, Especially the Women of Those Families Updated June 2000
Anton Simanowitz
Institute for Development Studies, Sussex, UK
Ben Nkuna
The Small Enterprise Foundation, South Africa
Sukor Kasim
Women Development Banking Trust, South Africa

How Donor Funds Could Better Reach and Support Grassroots Microcredit Institutions Working Towards the Microcredit Summit's Goal and Core Themes

Muhammad Yunus
Managing Director, Grameen Bank