Welcome on PlaNet Finance Middle East website!
Context - The needs of the sector in Syria:
Despite the recent economic development of Syria, the socioeconomic situation has remained worrisome with 30% of the Syrian population living under the poverty line in 2005, a problem exacerbated by the lack of appropriate local mechanisms for poverty alleviation. This problem is particularly felt by Syrian microentrepreneurs, who do not have access to microfinance products and services that meet their needs.
Legal efforts have already been made to reinforce the microfinance sector in Syria. In February 2007, the government of Syria issued the General Microfinance Decree which allows the Credit and Monetary Council of the Central Bank of Syria to license Social Financial Banking Institutions which provides microfinance services. This is a first step in the legislation of the microfinance sector even though there is still work to do in this area (recognition of the microfinance providers and the microfinance products, creation of loan guarantee schemes and credit reference systems...).
However, microfinance in Syria is still in its nascent stages of development, and as such has not yet developed “impact-driven” products that are designed specifically to alleviate poverty among the poorest. Most microfinance institutions cater to informal business, meaning that their products are poorly adapted for the poor. As a result, we see that the certain target populations of Syrian poor - women, urban dwellers, and the "poorest of the poor" – have been particularly underserved by microfinance. As a result, Syrian poor are less able to develop sustainable income-generating activities, less able to improve their living and health conditions, and less able to achieve greater social autonomy.
In order for these populations, as well as other groups of Syrian poor, to have the greatest social and economic benefit from microfinance, specialized products and services must be created that respond Local institutions need to be able to identify both the needs of these groups and develop new skills in order to respond to these needs. With both an understanding and a wide variety of competences and tools, local institutions will be able to implement microfinance programs that effectively alleviate the poverty of the poorest of the poor.
For more information on the PlaNet Finance projects in Syria:
www.planetfinance-as.org/EN/projets.php