BBL presentation at the World Bank Presentation by Enzo Martinelli and Desiree Roman Washington, 3 rd November 2005 Twin-tracking to promote increased access of people with disabilities to economic empowerment opportunities Microfinance and Disability - 4/4/06 World Bank & LCI side event of PSD Forum 2006 Enzo Martinelli

2 EM - Microfinance and disability WB & LCI side event - PSD Forum /04/06 Outline Microfinance from an NGO perspective Microfinance and beyond Need for changes in policies and practices of MFIs, including product development Need to highlight specific needs of PWDs as potential clients and microentrepreneurs Some learning from project implementation

3 EM - Microfinance and disability WB & LCI side event - PSD Forum /04/06 Capital is one of the tools for economic empowerment and inclusion Access to capital and financial services is only one element in the process of promotion of sustainable livelihoods and self-confidence Access to credit needs to be complemented with appropriate pre and post-service care, especially when targeting specific population groups Collaborative approaches with DPOs, NGOs and civil society can strengthen the effectiveness of inclusions of disabled people into microfinance schemes and sustainability

4 EM - Microfinance and disability WB & LCI side event - PSD Forum /04/06 The road to sustainable livelihood and inclusion Sustainable livelihood and inclusive communities Understanding market potential Provision of adapted training Microenterprise development Access to credit and saving schemes Access to additional financial services DPOs and NGOs

5 EM - Microfinance and disability WB & LCI side event - PSD Forum /04/06 Understanding the socio-economic context Identification of market-driven opportunities for productive activities and microenterprise development Research into marketable skills for vocational training and marketable products Building of self-confidence and development of competencies for self-employment

6 EM - Microfinance and disability WB & LCI side event - PSD Forum /04/06 Access to training opportunities Identification of mainstream vocational training and business development institution interested in expanding their customer base towards the inclusion of people with disabilities Development of adapted curricula for vocational training and business development Provision of peer advisory support for market development and microenterprise development

7 EM - Microfinance and disability WB & LCI side event - PSD Forum /04/06 Access to capital Identification of mainstream microfinance institutions interested in expanding their customer base to include people with disabilities Promotion of group lending, savings and DPO engagement for credit reduction risk Collaborative approach with key stakeholders for policy and product development as well as practice change for microfinance institutions

8 EM - Microfinance and disability WB & LCI side event - PSD Forum /04/06 Promoting sustainability Partnerships with DPOs for: promotion of microfinance schemes, enhancement of scheme performance, monitoring and follow up, consolidation of learning, establishment of structures for replicability and scaling up Partnership with mainstream microfinance organisations for: Effective creation of inclusive opportunities, sharing of models of good practice and replication on larger scale

Mainstreaming of disability issues in the microfinance sector Policy change of MFIs Support for specific needs Promotion of adapted and sustainable businesses Support for tailored microenterprise training Collaborative approaches with DPOs and NGOs Diversity awareness provided to stakeholders Disabled people as successful entrepreneurs