Continuing this blog series on the connection between the work of Opportunity International Canada and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), I am writing today about SDG #8 – Decent Work and Economic Growth.
Joachin was a shoemaker in Honduras and a client of IDH, our local Partner. His wife Marta (pictured below) is also a client and operates a store selling clothes, miscellaneous items, and, of course, shoes. I had the honour of visiting both the store and the shoe-making shop in early 2019. (Sadly, Joachin passed away from Covid in 2020.)
Joachin had been making shoes for twenty years, learning the trade from a relative. He ran a one-man operation for years, but with the help of loans and some training, he could expand. By the time I was visiting, he had 10 employees, each of whom were also clients, using small loans for home improvements such as concrete floors and better roofing. Joachin had set up a payroll deduction program for loan repayment to help his employees maintain a clean credit rating.
As I watched a young man working with leather to create a shoe, the pride he took in his work was obvious. I was struck by the thought that a simple loan and some training had helped create decent and meaningful work for more than a dozen people (including Marta and her daughter, who works in her shop), and a brighter future for these families and the small community where they lived.
Although Opportunity International addresses the challenges of poverty at the micro level — one client, one loan at a time — the cumulative impact is often seen at the macro level. Since 1971, Opportunity International has been one of the pioneers in microfinance with the goal of sustainable, dignified financial inclusion for those at the bottom of the economic ladder.
Although Opportunity International addresses the challenges of poverty at the micro level — one client, one loan at a time — the cumulative impact is often seen at the macro level.
We built, owned, and operated banks, launched a microinsurance program that spun out to serve millions of clients, innovated mobile banking to remote locations and deployed digital technology to increase access to services. This ecosystem has impacted not just individuals and families, but communities, regions and even the countries where we operate.
Opportunity International further innovated to deepen the impact, leveraging the power of microfinance across the full value chain of specific sectors, such as agriculture, education, and healthcare.
Opportunity International further innovated to deepen the impact, leveraging the power of microfinance across the full value chain of specific sectors, such as empowering women farmers, education, and healthcare. Within each of these sectors, the availability of loans and training for clients combined with value chain-specific support, has increased the opportunities for client success. The result is that millions of smallholder farmers increase yields and find a market for surplus crops, millions of kids receive a quality education, and millions of people in rural locations avoid preventable diseases and live healthier lives.
The impact is clearly macro in scope and contributes to overall economic growth. But it is micro at the core — financial inclusion and training for millions of individual clients. They take it from there and acquire sustainable livelihoods, creating decent work for themselves and their neighbours, and in the process, building brighter futures for their families and communities.
Dan Murray, CEO