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Survival, Recovery and Resilience: 12 Recommendations to Help Financial Institutions Weather the COVID-19 Crisis
COVID-19 has had a devastating impact on the 300 million-plus enterprises operating in emerging economies around the world. It has also harmed their financial institutions, which are dealing with poor asset quality, liquidity pressure and reduced profitability as clients struggle to repay loans. Analysts at MicroSave Consulting (MSC) share 12 recommendations to help these institutions survive and recover in the wake of the pandemic.
- Categories
- Coronavirus, Finance
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Tackling the COVID-19 Hunger Crisis in Africa: How Digital Networks Can Empower Small Farmers and Avert a Looming Disaster
COVID-19 is bringing even wealthy nations to their knees, but it’s dealing the deadliest blow to the world’s most vulnerable people – including smallholder farmers in Africa. And as Leesa Shrader at Mercy Corps points out, this is rapidly turning a health crisis into a hunger crisis. She explores how tech-powered solutions can help them survive the pandemic and build resilience for the future.
- Categories
- Agriculture, Coronavirus
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India’s Self-Help Groups Need Help: How to Strengthen a Proven Model to Support Women’s Recovery From the COVID-19 Crisis
Women’s empowerment is a growing focus in the development sector, but COVID-19 is putting the hard-won progress women have made in recent years at risk. Moin Qazi highlights one way to support women in emerging countries: the self-help group model. He discusses how these groups operate in India, their strengths and weaknesses, and how they could be leveraged to address the current crisis.
- Categories
- Coronavirus, Education, Finance, Impact Assessment
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A Sector in Ruins or ‘Building Back Better’? Findings From e-MFP’s Covid-19 Financial Inclusion Compass
With the COVID-19 pandemic and the global recession it has triggered, the financial inclusion sector is facing perhaps the greatest crisis in its modern history. In response, the European Microfinance Platform repurposed this year's Financial Inclusion Compass survey for this critical moment. Sam Mendelson discusses the results, and what they say about the sector's priorities, challenges and prospects for recovery.
- Categories
- Coronavirus, Finance, Investing
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Digital Identity and Financial Inclusion: How Digitizing Customer Due Diligence Can Strengthen Providers During COVID-19 and Beyond
Customer due diligence requirements are a major barrier to financial inclusion, since in some countries up to half the adult population can't open a bank account because they lack the necessary identity documents. With COVID-19 placing this obstacle in the spotlight, analysts at Cenfri explore how digital ID systems can benefit providers and customers, during the pandemic and beyond.
- Categories
- Coronavirus, Finance, Technology
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A Pandemic Response Based on Listening: Leveraging Customer Interviews to Understand COVID-19’s Impact in the Developing World
As COVID-19 spread around the world early this year, there was a flurry of data about its impact. But nearly all of it was gathered via online surveys, which omitted the 50% of the global population that lacks internet access. 60 Decibels responded by launching phone surveys with over 10,000 people in 13 developing countries to discuss their challenges and unmet needs. Kat Harrison discusses what they found.
- Categories
- Coronavirus, Impact Assessment
- Tags
- COVID-19, data, financial health, food security, interviews, NGOs, savings
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The COVID-19 Pivot: How Five Nonprofits and Community-Based Enterprises Have Adapted in Response to the Pandemic
As COVID-19 has upended entire industries, businesses and non-profits everywhere have had to adapt to survive – sometimes shifting completely from their traditional services. June Sugiyama at the Vodafone Americas Foundation explores how five participants in the OpenIDEO COVID Business Pivot Challenge have quickly adjusted to provide innovative solutions to the crisis.
- Categories
- Agriculture, Coronavirus, Health Care, Technology
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1 Billion People Live in Informal Settlements Worldwide: Here are Seven Key Challenges They’re Facing During COVID-19
“Stay at home” orders are part of life under COVID-19, but they're based on the assumption that one’s home provides protection against contracting and spreading the virus. As Margaret Nakunza at Intellecap points out, this isn’t always the case – at least not for the approximately 1 billion people living in informal settlements. She explores the most critical challenges facing these communities during the pandemic, and what the development sector can do to support them.
- Categories
- Coronavirus
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