While working and conducting research in the summer of 2010 and January 2011 within a microcredit program in Kenya, I became aware of the lack of consumer education and protection measures for microcredit clients. To bring awareness to this issue, I will work in Nairobi, Kenya from June 2011-May 2012 and collaborate with local consumer advocacy organizations to create what I call “a consumer education manual” that documents the services, requirements and procedures of microcredit programs in the five largest microfinance institutions (MFIs) in Kenya.
The manual will be used by consumers to understand the requirements and operations of these different microcredit programs. Most importantly, the experiences of microcredit borrowers will be included in the manual to allow potential borrowers the opportunity to learn about the microcredit programs through their peers, thus allowing current microcredit borrowers to contribute to the content and structure of the manual. The goal of the project is to contribute to the transparency of the microfinance industry and current consumer education campaigns to empower consumers, particularly women, to make educated financial decisions.
The manual will be hosted on the websites of several consumer advocacy organizations and blogs to increase dissemination. Once the manual is established in Kenya, it can be duplicated in other regions to contribute toward worldwide transparency of microfinance and advocacy for consumer protection and education throughout the world.
No comments:
Post a Comment