Expert: Microfinance Doesn't Always Empower Women

VIENNA (AP) — Microfinance fails to meet the needs of successful women entrepreneurs who want to expand their businesses, a United Nations expert said Friday.

Microfinance is aimed at improving the lives of the world's poor by offering them access to basic financial services such as loans that they ordinarily wouldn't qualify for. But it has its limitations, said Carolyn Hannan, director of the U.N.'s division for the advancement of women.

"Microfinance has not necessarily always empowered women and, in particular, it has failed to meet the needs of successful women entrepreneurs who are wishing to expand their businesses," said Hannan.

The Swedish national, speaking in Vienna about a recent U.N. report on the role of women in development, also said microfinance institutions do not always help the neediest. "While they've certainly been very successful in reaching out to women, they've not always reached the most poor among women," Hannan said.

In 2006, Bangladeshi economist Muhammad Yunus was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for developing microfinance and founding Grameen Bank, which provides money to entrepreneurs too poor to qualify for traditional bank loans. That prompted many other organizations to experiment with microfinance in developing countries.