UN Capital Development Fund signs agreement to expand microfinance education

The United Nations Capital Development (UNCDF) and the State University of New York (SUNY) today signed a deal to expand a microfinance training programme that aims to help poor people in developing countries enjoy greater access to financial services.

The Microfinance Distance Learning course (MFDL), developed for the web, distance learning and classrooms by the UNCDF, includes advice and best practices drawn from successful examples across the developing world.

Under the new agreement, the existing course will be further developed by SUNY so that it can be delivered to broader audiences, both in the United States and in other countries.

Henriette Keijzers, interim Executive Secretary at UNCDF, said the partnership with SUNY offered another boost to building more inclusive financial sectors.

“Our UNCDF microfinance colleagues invested a lot of time, energy and resources into developing this programme,” she said. “The intention was to promote knowledge of microfinance to as broad an audience as possible, which is now happening through partnerships like this one with SUNY.”

The agreement could lead to partnerships with non-governmental organizations (NGOs), governments and development agencies, with the goal of offering training programmes on microfinance. Symposia for academics and businesspeople are also being planned.

Set up by the General Assembly in 1966, UNCDF is affiliated with the UN Development Programme (UNDP) and tasked with providing investment capital, capacity building and technical advisory services to promote microfinance and local development in the world’s poorest countries.