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Gates Foundation Grant to Grameen

The Grameen Foundation, a global microfinance organization, proudly announced this week that it had received a $1.5 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to support its work worldwide. The three-year grant will support the Grameen Foundation`s strategic plan to reach five million additional new families, ensure that 50% of them permanently escape poverty within five years, and champion innovations that transform the microfinance industry.

"For microfinance to reach its full potential to contribute to reaching the Millennium Development Goal of cutting extreme poverty in half by 2015, leading practitioners will need to accelerate their growth in outreach and improve their product offerings," said Alex Counts, president and CEO of Grameen Foundation. "In addition, research and development related to innovations that benefit the entire sector will need to be sped up,"

The unrestricted grant is GF?s third largest grant in support of a plan launched in 2004. "The Gates Foundation is proud to partner with Grameen Foundation," said Sylvia Mathews, president of the Global Development Program at the Gates Foundation. "Time and again, Grameen has proven that they are an effective leader in generating awareness around the importance of financial services for the poor and identifying innovative solutions to help more families move permanently out of poverty. We are pleased to support their strategic plan with this grant."