Empowering Women's Leadership: A Case Study Of Bangladeshi Microcredit Business

摘要

A thriving global economy is linked to reduction of poverty. Microcredit loan programs have affected the economies of many developing countries. Many of these loans are funded by non-governmental organizations (NGO) and are made to marginalized groups, such as women. Bangladeshi women face severe challenges due to their economic, social, and cultural positions and the country's physiographic conditions. Bangladesh's physiography renders its economy and people vulnerable, exacerbating the impact of poverty. Located in the Indian sub-continent, with the exception of the Chittagong Hills, most of the country is low land, on or below sea level, located at the mouth of the two major rivers, Ganges and Bramhaputra. Rising population and growing demand for land have forced people to move into low-lying areas, thus putting millions of people at risk from annual flooding and strong cyclones that form in the Bay of Bengal (Cannon, 2002; United Nations Development Programme, 2007). Bangladesh's economy depends upon agriculture and manufacturing. In rank order, its agricultural production in 2006 was rice, sugar cane, condiments and spices, jute, oilseeds, pulses, tea and tobacco, while its manufacturing products in the same year were cement, jute goods, sugar, cotton yarn, paper and soybean oil (Asian Development Bank, 2007).