Access to financial services is a fundamental tool for improving a family’s well-being and productive capacity. Access to financial services empowers the poor by reducing their vulnerability, and offering them opportunities to improve their lives.
CGAP works toward a world in which poor people are considered valued clients of their country’s financial system. We aim to help build efficient and equitable local financial markets that serve all poor people with convenient and affordable financial services.
CGAP is an independent policy and research center dedicated to advancing financial access for the world's poor. It is supported by over 30 development agencies and private foundations who share a common mission to alleviate poverty. Housed at the World Bank, CGAP provides market intelligence, promotes standards, develops innovative solutions and offers advisory services to governments, microfinance providers, donors, and investors.
CGAP's Organization
The Council Of Governors: The Council of Governors is the membership and governance body of CGAP. It is responsible for setting CGAP's broad policies and strategic directions, providing inputs to the annual workplan and budget, adopting and implementing CGAP consensus guidelines, and determining the future of CGAP. The CG is comprised of representatives from all of CGAP's members: bilateral and multilateral development agencies, regional development banks, private foundations, and international financial institutions.
The Executive Committee: The Executive Committee functions as CGAP's board and executive governing body. It has principal oversight of CGAP's activities and is responsible for providing strategic guidance to the Operational Team, and approving the workplan and budget on behalf of the CG.
The Investment Committee: The Investment Committee is the fiduciary oversight body that acts on behalf of the Council of Governors. It is responsible for deciding on key CGAP investments and for projects with a budget of more than $100,000.
THE MICROFINANCE GATEWAY
The Microfinance Gateway is the most comprehensive online resource for the global microfinance community. It includes research and publications, featured articles, organization and consultant profiles, and the latest news, events, and job opportunities in microfinance.
The Microfinance Gateway is committed to being:
• Community Owned: Content is collected and disseminated as a shared resource. Site priorities are based on user feedback.
• Diverse: Site content covers an array of issues and topics in microfinance, representing a wide range of perspectives, sources and authors. Preference is not given to any particular agenda, group, or model in microfinance.
• High Quality: Rigorous editorial standards regarding the relevance and form of content are applied. We are committed to presenting all material in a clear and accessible manner through meticulous abstracting and indexing.
• Interactive: There are numerous opportunities for users to offer feedback, provide content, respond to content, and to interact with one another throughout the site.
Web sites:
http://www.cgap.org/
http://www.microfinancegateway.org/
