a) Describe the various social barriers to women taking initiative in the area of microcredit
When it comes to women’s taking initiative in the area of microcredit, they are facing a wide array of social barriers. In the first place, there are the widely held social stereotyping inhibiting women from engaging in entrepreneurship through microcredit. The gender norms dictate that women are supposed to stay at home, raise the children and run the household. Their enthusiasm to engage in entrepreneurship is discouraged and not recognized by the society. Next comes the more important barrier, which is, the legal constraints. Although there are no expressly written documents discriminating against women, women are faced with the situation of lack of collateral or guarantors required by formal microfinance institutions. These roles are often fulfilled by males and salaried. So the guarantee requirements, together with other documentation such as property titles, birth certificates etc. obstruct women from successful application for microcredit loans. Lastly, women have limited access to resources, such as independent assets, education, experience, skills and market knowledge, cash flow etc. they are considered as credit risk for microfinance institutions, which forces them to raise the interest rate. The lack of access to resources poses a great barrier to women’s engagement in microcredit. All combined, legal constraints, traditional gender norms and lack of access to resources create imposing social barriers to women taking initiative in the area of microcredit.
b) Describe and discuss the political activism and negotiations on the part of Dr. Yunus with the Bangladeshi and other world governments and institutions
Dr. Yunus has devoted himself to alleviating poverty in Bangladesh. In order to fulfill his
