The Women's World Banking network gives the world's poorest entrepreneurs the means to lift themselves out of poverty by providing them with access to financial services and information.

Hundreds of millions of poor people worldwide — the majority of them women — support themselves and their families through entrepreneurial enterprises: selling something, making something, or providing a service. But without the credit and financial information needed to turn their enterprises into self-sustaining businesses, these hardworking women remain trapped in poverty. During 30 years of pioneering work in the microfinance field, Women's World Banking has demonstrated that when given access to credit and other financial services, low-income entrepreneurs are resourceful, dynamic and bankable economic agents.

Women's World Banking (WWB) supports a global network of more than 50 microfinance institutions and banks in 43 countries throughout Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe, Latin America and the Middle East, offering them a full menu of advisory services and veteran leadership in the mission to bring financial empowerment to poor women entrepreneurs.

WWB provides direct support to 28 microfinance institutions (MFIs) — the core Affiliates and Associates in our network — and partners with 24 financial institutions in the Global Network for Banking Innovation, which includes several major commercial banks. We also offer support to the Africa Microfinance Network (AFMIN), which consists of 21 country-level microfinance networks in Africa.

WWB's work is a partnership between our network of MFIs, our Global Team of financial experts and advisors, and our end-users: 23 million low-income entrepreneurs.

Based in New York City, the WWB Global Team works hand-in-hand with members of the WWB Network, offering them management guidance, training, technical assistance, financial products and services, contacts and advice on how to impact government policies. WWB also promotes innovations in microfinance, enabling our network members to better serve the needs of more low-income clients. As a result, many WWB network institutions have grown from small women's groups to respected microfinance banks. They are recognized for excellence within the microfinance industry and are creating models that are relevant and successful at the local and global levels.

WWB's network organizations provide poor women with key financial services ranging from small business loans to savings to health insurance. In doing so, they have shown that microfinance services for women have far-reaching impact: they increase family incomes, improve nutrition and health, raise education levels and, ultimately, reduce poverty across entire communities.