Report from the Russian Microfinance Center’s National Conference on Microfinance

>Posted by Robin Ratcliffe

I am writing at the end of Day One of the VIII National Conference on Microfinance organized in Moscow by the Russian Microfinance Center.  Inaugurated last night by Princess Maxima of The Netherlands (who is the UN Secretary General’s Special Advocate for Financing for Development) and Professor Mohammed Yunus, along with a number of representatives of the Russian Ministries of Finance and the Economy, the conference brings together some 400 microfinance players from across Russia.

As the director of The Smart Campaign I’ve been invited to moderate a panel on Consumer Protection in Microfinance, a topic that I am not quite sure is so much on the minds of those in the Russian setting as it is in so many other parts of the world.  Why? The sector is very young (10 years at most) and reaches just 600,000 clients.  Much of the activity is dominated by small business lending carried out by national and regional government development funds at prime plus 1% at most.

Introducing The Smart Campaign

>Posted by Amanda Powell

After months of research, planning, and collecting feedback from microfinance industry leaders, we are ready to introduce The Smart Campaign (formerly known as the Campaign for Client Protection in Microfinance). This campaign is a global effort to unite microfinance leaders around a common goal: to enhance client protection in all that we do – to better serve our clients, increase employee satisfaction, and strengthen the microfinance industry overall.  We want to see the microfinance industry be a leader in responsible finance and an example to “mainstream” finance.

As part of our official introduction to the campaign, we will be hosting an international teleconference with top industry leaders.  It will take place on Wednesday, October 21^st, at 10:00 a.m. (Eastern Standard Time, US**).  Click here to RSVP for the teleconference. (Please take note that the phone call will take place in English)

On the call, we will:

• Present the Campaign’s new look
• Update you on our activities since the 2008 Clinton Global Initiative announcement
• Provide you with an inside look at upcoming initiatives from The Smart Campaign, and
• Learn about emerging trends in client protection from top industry leaders

As we present the new look of The Smart Campaign we hope you will join us for this teleconference.

Please continue to follow the development of the Campaign as we strive to keep clients first in microfinance and bring full financial inclusion to people around the world.

** Seattle, 7:00a.m.; Mexico, Colombia, 9:00a.m.; Bolivia, Washington, DC, 10:00a.m.; Burkina Faso, 2:00p.m.; Switzerland, South Africa, 4:00p.m.; Egypt, Uganda, 5:00p.m.; India, 7:30p.m.; Cambodia, 9:00p.m.; Philippines, 10:00p.m.