Microfinance Institutions and Human Security in Muslim Majority Countries: Achievements and Challenges

Abstract

This chapter situates microfinance in the human security paradigm in an effort to explore the transformative capacity of the movement that may be a significant source of social and economic change. It focuses on interventions in work, health, food security, education, women empowerment, and shelter that have accompanied the provision of microfinance in Muslim majority countries (MMCs). It notes that complementing microfinance with nonfinancial services can address the many persistent and myriad problems of poverty in MMCs. This chapter concludes that if the MFIs, in MMCs or elsewhere, rely solely on microfinance to alleviate poverty, it will certainly keep the industry alive but do little to change the endemic poverty or ensure human security in most of the world. Thus, this chapter argues that situating microfinance within the human security paradigm would alter the discourse on the industry to inspire broader goals and aims, create a series of best practices, include social indicators for impact evaluation, and foster links and partnerships across different sectors and regions.