> Posted by Michelle Romeu
This week, we’re excited to highlight the housing-microfinance link, Islamic microfinance, and a debate that’s been brewing since the era of Monica Lewinsky.- Philanthropy News Digest announces that Habitat for Humanity International, Habitat for Humanity India, and the ASK Group are launching a five-year initiative to provide microloans to thousands of low-income households in India.
- CGAP’s Microfinance blog continues coverage of its Islamic Microfinance Challenge by profiling Tanzania eco-Volunteerism’s honey project, which provides a microfinance model for rural Tanzanian communities that also complies with Islamic guidelines for business and finance.
- More than 2.5 billion people — half the world’s adult population— don’t have access to a bank account, and the Financial Access Initiative blog explores the research done in order to best help the “poorest of the poor.”
- The longest-running microfinance debate lives on, as reported by the Innovations for Poverty Action blog, in the form of a paper released by Mark Pitt as a further response to the Morduch vs. Pitt & Khandker debate dating back to 1998. Be sure to take a look at David Roodman’s parry as well, over at his Open Book blog.
- Alex Counts, president and CEO of Grameen Foundation, also shares his insights on the Roodman/Morduch vs. Pitt/Khandker debate at Grameen’s blog.