10 million Bangladeshis have risen above the poverty line since 1990
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The Microcredit Summit Campaign, a project that was launched in 1997 by US-based nonprofit advocacy group RESULTS Educational Fund (REF), today released a report indicating that between 1990 and 2008 approximately 10 million Bangladeshis rose above the international poverty line of USD 1.25 a day. The study attributes this improved economic status to microfinance programs that enable poor people to start small businesses and access savings and insurance services. The study is based on a survey of approximately 4,000 Bangladeshi households from mostly rural communities and some urban slums that was conducted between February and August 2009 by a team led by Sajjad Zohir of Economic Research Group (ERG), a Bangladeshi nonprofit organization. Alex Counts, President and CEO of the Grameen Foundation, a nonprofit organization based in Washington, DC, supports the report saying, “There are quite a few people who believe that microfinance has lost its way. This Bangladesh survey reminds us that, even in the most difficult circumstances, major progress can be made.”
This article was originally posted by Julie Moksim on Microcapital.org.
The Microcredit Summit Campaign, a project that was launched in 1997 by US-based nonprofit advocacy group RESULTS Educational Fund (REF), today released a report indicating that between 1990 and 2008 approximately 10 million Bangladeshis rose above the international poverty line of USD 1.25 a day. The study attributes this improved economic status to microfinance programs that enable poor people to start small businesses and access savings and insurance services. The study is based on a survey of approximately 4,000 Bangladeshi households from mostly rural communities and some urban slums that was conducted between February and August 2009 by a team led by Sajjad Zohir of Economic Research Group (ERG), a Bangladeshi nonprofit organization. Alex Counts, President and CEO of the Grameen Foundation, a nonprofit organization based in Washington, DC, supports the report saying, “There are quite a few people who believe that microfinance has lost its way. This Bangladesh survey reminds us that, even in the most difficult circumstances, major progress can be made.”
The results of the survey are consistent with the results of the Bangladesh Household Income and Expenditures Survey (HIES) that estimates approximately 10.62 million Bangladeshis nationwide rose above the poverty line between 1990 and 2005.
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