Accion International

ACCION International is a non-profit organization founded in 1961 whose mission it is to provide small loans and technical assistance to those around the world who are under-serviced by local banks. As a Microfinance Organization, ACCION's provides loans, sometimes as small as $75, to help small business owners start or maintain their companies when traditional banks won't offer them a loan. ACCION originally operated solely in South America, and has now expanded into Africa, the United States and India. By partnering with local Microfinance Institutions, ACCION is able to reach a wide range of potential borrowers while increasing local participation in poverty alleviation.

History

ACCION started as a student-run volunteer effort, with its first operations in Caracas, Venezuela. At first, ACCION was a Peace Corps-like organization, building schools and waterways in the poorest parts of Latin America. Soon, however, ACCION's founder (Joseph Blatchford) realized that these types of changes weren't creating a real, lasting difference in the quality of lives of those affected. ACCION staff in Recife, Brazil realized that one of the major obstacles in the struggle of the poor was that almost all their profits were being paid to loan-sharks from whom they had borrowed money to keep their businesses afloat. ACCION staff made the decision to start offering small, moderate interest rate loans to the poor, and in this way launched the field of microenterprise. [http://select.nytimes.com/gst/tsc.html?URI=http://select.nytimes.com/2006/11/16/opinion/15talkingpoints.html&OQ=_rQ3D1Q26pagewantedQ3Dall&OP=6bace042Q2FQ2BZQ23Q3EQ2BPeUyyPQ2BQ24Q20Q20AQ2B11Q2B1AQ2ByQ27GQ2FGyQ2FQ2B1_PQ5Er.GQ2FqQ27yGQ2FPem5P!r] Since that time, ACCION has managed to overturn the myth that the poor are bad credit risks, as it has maintained well over ninety percent re-payment rates. By the nineties, ACCION was even able to start becoming self-sufficient, as the interest rates it received on loan repayments went towards covering the cost of creating more loans. Many of the loans go to women, which creates a trickle down effect to the rest of their family and the community as a whole. Improvements in health and education have been observed as a result of this economic self-sufficiency.

References

* [http://select.nytimes.com/2006/11/16/opinion/15talkingpoints.html&OQ=_rQ3D1Q26pagewantedQ3Dall&OP=6bace042Q2FQ2BZQ23Q3EQ2BPeUyyPQ2BQ24Q20Q20AQ2B11Q2B1AQ2ByQ27GQ2FGyQ2FQ2B1_PQ5Er.GQ2FqQ27yGQ2FPem5P!r "How to Fight Poverty: 8 Programs That Work"] , by Tina Rosenberg, "The New York Times", November 16 2006. Accessed July 19 2007.

External links

* [http://www.accion.org/ ACCION International's website]
* [http://www.fastcompany.com/social/profiles/accion.html FastCompany.com article on ACCION]
* [http://www.accionusa.org/ ACCION USA's Website]