Events

Ideas into Action: CFED 2012 Assets Learning Conference

CFED (the Corporation for Enterprise Development) has confirmed that its 2012 Assets Learning Conference, 'Ideas into Action', will take place from 18th to 20th September 2012, in Washington DC. More information and a conference website will be available soon. www.cfed.org

Saving as a Route to Social Inclusion in Europe: Evidence, Challenges and Opportunities

EMN, in collaboration with IACD, the Levi Strauss Foundation and the Indigo network, has organised a debate to explore how saving can build social inclusion and how policies in Europe might be adapted to encourage more low-income people to save. The debate will take place in Brussels on 30th November from 15:00-17:00, followed by a networking reception. For more information, download the flyer or contact Stefanie Lämmermann at EMN.

Global Microcredit Summit, Valladolid, Spain

The 2011 Global Microcredit Summit takes place from 14-17 November in Valladolid, Spain. A number of Indigo partners will be presenting. For details go to www.globalmicrocreditsummit2011.org/.

ACAF at the Arusha Savings Groups Summit

Indigo partner Asociació Comunidades (ACAF) took part in the World Savings Groups Summit held in Arusha, Tanzania, from 4th to 6th October 2011. The event constituted the first large gathering of bodies, associations and agents that carry out savings groups’ activities around the world and was attended by more than 200 delegates.

ACAF representative Abdoulaye Fall reports:

German ASSETnet Workshop

Report from Mirko Bendig, evers & jung:

On the 15^th of September the German ASSETnet workshop took place at the evers & jung office in Hamburg. The participants ranged from community, self help organisations to researchers and practitioners.

In terms to increase the awareness about the asset building workshop and to address the respective financial needs of (low-income) migrants in Germany, the following five outcomes/challenges were identified.

Community Development conference, 6-8 July 2011, Lisbon

Three members of the Indigo network participated in a roundtable session at IACD's annual conference in Portugal. Tibor Beres (Autonómia), Omar Khan (Runnymede) and Jean Claude Rodriguez-Ferrera Massons (ACAF) joined Bob Friedman, of CFED, and Australian community finance expert Ingrid Burkett to explore the transformational impact of saving on lives and communities.

European Microfinance Network annual conference, 9-10 June 2011, Amsterdam

Partners explored the question 'Why do savings matter?' at a workshop attended by approximately 50 EMN members. The session looked at the impact and challenges of three approaches to saving:

Bernard Bayot of RFA presented on precautionary saving (saving for emergencies).
Abdoulaye Fall shared ACAF experiences of self-financed communities and saving for specific goals.
Omar Khan of Runnymede spoke on long-term saving, e.g. pensions.

Microfinance Centre annual conference, 18-20 May 2011, Prague

For the first time, MFC's annual conference this year included an asset building track. Piotr Korynski of MFC introduced the session by exploring the linkages and complementarities between microfinance and asset building. Zosia Szafteruk, also MFC, then presented initial findings from a pilot scheme in Poland. Jean-Claude Rodriguez Ferrera (ACAF) and Tibor Beres (Autonómia) spoke about their Levi Strauss Foundation sponsored work in Barcelona and Hungary.

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