Private Enterprise and Financial Markets > Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise
Conference: Microfinance of Housing
(11/00, En, Es)
Conference objective and contents
The objective of the technical workshop held at the Washington, D.C. headquarters of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) on June 13-14 2000, was to promote best practices in the microfinance of housing (MFH) and to share and compare recent Latin American experiences in this field. The Infrastructure and Finance Division of the IDB, Region 2, organized the workshop, which was sponsored and supported by the Sustainable Development Department and the Microenterprise Unit.
Workshop participants discussed how to promote MFH programs that actively involve low-income citizens, and how to design financially sustainable programs in the medium and long term programs.
Representatives of the following institutions presented their experiences: Mutual La Primera (Bolivia), SEWA Bank (India), Financiera Calpia (El Salvador), De Shackel Cu (Surinam), Banco Ademi (Dominican Republic), Fundacion Pro-Vivienda Social (Argentina), and the Inter-American Investment Corporation.
During the first part of the workshop speakers highlighted the importance and the implications of MFH, dwelling specifically on its benefits for Latin America communities. This was followed by a special panel discussion on how to extend mortgages to low-income borrowers. The workshop included presentations from various MFH community organizations, which described their respective experiences, objectives, and achievements. The major donors presented their policy guidelines, and recent innovations in this field.
The workshop concluded with a summary of the main lessons learned from recent practices and a discussion the challenges ahead for MFH in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Last updated: 06/13/07
