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Funding a Sector in Transition: Recent RCTs could reshape donors’ approach to microcredit
After a group of six studies published in January found that its benefits are modest at best, microcredit is stuck at a crossroads, says Matt Mossman. But as debate continues amongst practitioners about how to react to the new data, the findings could spark changes in the funding landscape for the sector.
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- Education
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Kenya’s Mobile Finance Revolution Takes the Next Steps: Two new developments go far beyond mobile money
Kenya’s mobile finance market is evolving, and for the country’s leading financial services players, that evolution has been a profitable one. But beyond M-PESA’s remarkable payments revolution and the continued growth of M-Shwari’s mobile banking services, there are two other important developments in the Kenyan market. MicroSave founder Graham Wright discusses their impact.
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- Uncategorized
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The Field Guide to Human-Centered Design: A new book from IDEO.org is a ‘crib sheet’ for better social innovation
IDEO.org has published The Field Guide to Human-Centered Design, which showcases its 50-plus methods. IDEO.org’s Aaron Britt suggests we think of it as kind of a human-centered design crib sheet for bringing the voices and desires of the people you’re designing for into your work and as a map for iterating your way toward a successful social enterprise.
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- Uncategorized
- Tags
- product design
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Twitter Top 10 – 5/10/15
It’s Mother’s Day in the U.S., and we’ve put together a selection of tweets that anyone’s mother would love (assuming she’s involved in social enterprise or global development). This week’s tweets include case studies for impact investors, disturbing development’s on India’s financial inclusion front, and our usual array of resources and insights (along with some interesting gift ideas for mom.)
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- Agriculture, Health Care
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Weekly Roundup – The Obligations That Come With Trading in Trust
Global health organizations trade in trust. One way to earn that trust is to function in a transparent way. Doing so can slow processes and increase workloads, but recent cases show that the extra effort is worth it.
- Categories
- Health Care
- Tags
- regulations
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Relief Through Finance: How microfinance builds resilience to disasters and crises
After a natural disaster or other crisis, like Nepal’s recent earthquake, the relief and aid community inevitably plays a major role. But according to Sam Mendelson, there is also a vital role for microfinance, which can help restore livelihoods and provide resilience to vulnerable populations thanks to existing relationships with clients that foreign NGOs lack.
- Categories
- Impact Assessment
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Comic (Book) Challenges to Chronic Problems: How students face the challenges of malaria, malnutrition through graphic novels, collaboration
For the third year in a row, fourth- and fifth-grade students at the American International School of Bamako in Mali collaborated with Mali Health and students from three local schools to create graphic novels on health-related issues.
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- Education, Health Care
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India’s Skills Training Maze : Why the country needs strong certification standards
Access to skills training is important, but the quality of the training is proving even more critical to the success of students. Without strong quality benchmarks, both employers and students will quickly lose trust in the skills development ecosystem, jeopardizing a widespread vision of a skilled India.
- Categories
- Education
