Page last updated 7/22/2004
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Grameen Koota
Microfinance is being recognized internationally as a key strategy for addressing issues of poverty alleviation and women’s empowerment. Access to financial services and the subsequent transfer of financial resources to poor women enable them to become economic agents of change. Women are able to become economically self-reliant, directly contribute to the well-being of their families, play a more active role in decision-making, and are better able to confront systemic gender inequalities. It is estimated that nearly 60% of 10.2 million households do not have access to banking services and that 35% 40% of households live below the poverty line in Karnataka (Source: 2001 India Census). There is a large market potential for microfinance reaching the poorest in Karnataka, but it remains largely untapped.
Grameen Koota is a microfinance NGO headquartered in Bangalore, India, with operations in the rural areas of the state of Karnataka. Based on the Grameen Bank model, Grameen Koota has been using a microcredit approach to help alleviate poverty since 1999. Our mission is to help poor women in rural areas and urban slums with microcredit to work themselves, and thereby their families, out of poverty. We strive to constantly deliver need-based financial services in a cost-effective manner and to become a financially sustainable microfinance institution for the poor. Our microcredit program is also integrated with social development programs. We conduct periodic socioeconomic development education workshops for our members, covering topics such as: health, nutrition, sanitation, family planning, HIV/AIDS awareness, adult literacy, marketing, income generation, and enterprise development. Our clients are poor women with an annual income of less than $133 in rural Karnataka. Their activities include agriculture, animal husbandry, and microenterprises.
As of June 30, 2004, we are reaching over 12,000 women who fall below the poverty line.
Please visit our website at www.grameenkoota.org. for more information or contact us at info@grameenkoota.org.
Visit the Grameen Koota web site.
