Micro-Financing Paradigms for Advancing Women’s Role in Socio-Economic Development

Abstract

Micro-financing essentially improves the socio-economic development of the poor. It targets the women, who are traditionally poorer and have less access to social and economic capital. In promoting micro-financing, donor organisations and NGOs adopt the feminist empowerment paradigm, the poverty alleviation paradigm or the financial self-sustainability paradigm, whichever suits their individual intervention strategy. This study is a review of the literature for the contrasting micro-financing paradigms which advance the role of women in socio-economic development.