Dr. Linda Mayoux, Consultant for Hivos and Oxfam Novib, UK Targeting microfinance to women has enabled many MFIs to grow, however as is evident in the recent crisis in Andhra Pradesh as well as academic research, women have not always benefited. This paper focuses on current innovations and other possible ways forward in mainstreaming gender in different types of financial service provider including profitable commercial banks, MFIs, CBOs/SHGs and integrated agriculture and private sector development programmes. It first discusses ways in which women’s empowerment can be promoted by financially sustainable institutions as a longer term investment in increasing outreach to a valuable under-served market which can increase profitability. It then discusses what can be done by financial institutions and/or other actors like NGOs and capacity development institutions to further increase the empowerment potential of microfinance on a sustainable basis through catalysing community-led processes and linkages with private sector and government initiatives for value chain and local economic development.
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