Providing financial services for the poor represents one of the most important advances in international development of the last 30 years. With a demonstrated record of success in microfinance lending, Mercy Corps has been a leader in this arena. In fact, microfinance has become a Mercy Corps core competency and an essential element of the agency's integrated approach to programming that helps people build secure, productive and just communities.
Working in challenging environments from Afghanistan to Guatemala, Mercy Corps has developed a network of a dozen retail microfinance institutions (MFIs). As of May 2008, MFIs founded or co-founded by Mercy Corps have distributed more than one million loans worth in excess of one billion dollars. Moreover, many of our MFI partners have evolved to commercial viability. Building them has earned Mercy Corps invaluable practical understanding of the needs of the unbanked urban and rural working poor.
Mercy Corps is committed to exploring cutting-edge ideas and making an even broader array of financial services accessible to the world's poor. Ultimately, we envision creating a seamless web of products that serve everyone, from the poorest borrower to the richest, with the full range of financial services that signal equal access to economic opportunity.
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Over the last five years, more than 89% of resources allocated directly to programs.