Abstract
Women consist almost half of the total population in Pakistan and majority of them are living in remote rural areas facing heavy burden of poverty. They are the most vulnerable and deprived segment of the society. For meaningful and sustainable economic development women participation in economic activities is equally important as men. Availability of economic opportunities for women are limited in rural area as a result their participation in integrated economic development is also limited. To make them active participant of development there is need of proper initiatives. The First Microfinance Bank (FMB) is part of the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN) which has been running a successful microfinance and integrated rural development program in the remote and isolated Northern areas of Pakistan since 1982. The major objective of the bank is to increase the outreach of financial services to those sections of the society that are often neglected by the traditional banking sector. Empowerment of women is the top priority of the bank and the governing principle of the bank is to reduce the vulnerability of poor women and increase their standing in society. We analyze the impact of VGFS by the First Microfinance Bank on poverty reduction and women empowerment in rural area of district Gilgit. A field survey questionnaire was designed to assess the impact of Microfinance on the women empowerment in Gilgit. A total of 200 female respondents were selected through multi-stage, disproportionate, stratified sampling technique, wherein 100 respondents of treatment group are selected on random basis and the rest 100 respondents of control group were selected using score matching technique. Using Mean Difference model of impact evaluation, the study results show that microfinance services of (FMFB) has significantly contributed towards women’s empowerment by influencing women’s decision-making power and enhancing their overall socioeconomic status. Results also show that VGFS by FMFB help in reducing poverty
Malik Muhammad, , Dr. Pervez Zamurrad Janjua. (2011) Impact of Village Group Financial Services on Women Empowerment and Poverty: A Case Study of the First Micro Finance Bank Gilgit, The Dialogue, Volume 6, Issue 4.
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