Pro Mujer

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Pro Mujer (meaning, in Spanish, Pro Woman) is a not-for-profit microfinance organization working to improve the life conditions of poor women and their families in Latin America, primarily though Microcredit programs and micro-loans, with other services being developed to further enhance the services it provides. The Pro Mujer methodology also includes business training, savings programs and healthcare services to its clients.

Pro Mujer is a microfinance and women’s development network which has established microfinance organizations in five Latin American countries, all sharing the same philosophy and mission, employing a similar methodology, and working together to share best practices and innovations. These five Pro Mujer microfinance organizations are in Argentina [1], Bolivia [2], Mexico [3], Nicaragua [4] and Peru [5]. Expansion into other Latin American countries is contemplated for the future.

Pro Mujer International has two network offices - one in New York and one in La Paz, Bolivia - that support the development of its five microfinance institutions, and the ongoing operations and expansion to new countries, respectively. Pro Mujer is dedicated to its social mission, but seeks to manage itself like an efficient business, with all proceeds of its various activities reinvested in its growth, improvement and expansion to reach more beneficiary clients, who are principally women.

Pro Mujer International monitors the performance of the five country MFIs and works closely with the country boards [6] and staff to reduce risk, improve practices and to ensure compliance with internal controls. PMI prepares consolidated financial reports for the Pro Mujer board of directors each quarter and uses an international audit firm to produce a consolidated audit for the network. It works directly with donors and lenders to secure funding for network activities and growth, monitors these investments and reports to the providers. PMI also focuses on macro issues of strategy, communications, recruitment, systems and funding.

Pro Mujer International disseminates the achievements of the network through the various media, at conferences, on panels and in workshops, and through its periodic publications and website (promujer.org), with each country having its own webpages.


Contents

[edit] Mission

Pro Mujer [7] is an international microfinance and women’s development network whose mission is to provide Latin America’s poorest women with the means to build livelihoods for themselves and futures for their families through microfinance[8], business training[9], and healthcare support[10].

Pro Mujer fights poverty by establishing sustainable microfinance organizations that provide an integrated package of financial and human development services that women require to build and improve their small businesses.

Pro Mujer supports the health of its clients and their families and helps women build their self-esteem[11]. The network also links women and their families with existing resources and services in their communities.

[edit] History

In 1990, Lynne Patterson and Carmen Velasco founded Pro Mujer[12], a microfinance network that offers credit, access to savings account, healthcare and training to poor women entrepreneurs in Latin America.

Lynne and Carmen modeled Pro Mujer after Grameen Bank in Bangladesh, an organization with a well-tested group-based microfinance methodology that shows access to capital as the key for stabilizing women's businesses and creating a more financially secure future for them and their families.

Pro Mujer developed its sustainable integrated credit and training methodology in Bolivia[13] in 1990; and successfully replicated the model in Nicaragua[14] in 1996, Peru[15] in 1999, Mexico[16] in 2001 and Argentina[17] in 2005. The services provided by each Pro Mujer have been modified to fit each country’s economic and cultural conditions.

In the past eighteen years the foundation’s microfinance institutions have disbursed over US$488 million in small loans, and have provided healthcare to hundreds of thousands of women and their families. Surpassing Lynne and Carmen’s expectations, Pro Mujer is helping some of the poorest women in Latin America to increase their income, develop their full potential, and claim their basic human rights.

[edit] Accomplishments

As of June 2009, Pro Mujer has distributed $689 million in small loans. Pro Mujer clients are encouraged to save, and these women have saved $17.8 million in individual accounts providing a buffer for their families in times of crises.

Currently, Pro Mujer serves 211,000 active clients and, in addition, over 1 million children and extended family members. The current average loan balance is $209.

[edit] External links

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pro_Mujer"
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