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Sydney South NSW 1235, Level 11, 227 Elizabeth Street Sydney NSW 2000

Telephone: 1800 812 164

© 2026 Opportunity International AustraliaABN 83 003 805 043

News & Stories Blog

World news on the fight to alleviate poverty – follow innovations in microfinance, technology and community development that are changing lives in developing countries.

WATCH: In Conversation with David Bussau AM

by Opportunity International Australia

Opportunity International Australia founder David Bussau AM joined us on 15 November 2023, in conversation with Nicole Clements, former ABC journalist and now Marketing and Communications Manager at Opportunity. David, one of the pioneers in microfinance, is an inspiring social entrepreneur, who has been hailed for his innovative approach to solving world poverty. Since Opportunity was founded almost 50 years ago, millions of families have been supported to start their own business and lift themselves…

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Can we end global poverty?

by Scott Walters

My youngest son, who is 20 years old, asked me recently, “Dad, do you really think global poverty can be eradicated?” We had been discussing the meeting of the United Nations General Assembly in New York where the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) had been in focus. You may know that we are nowhere near achieving any of them by the agreed date of 2030, including the first one which is ‘End poverty in all its forms everywhere’. We had also been discussing that although the…

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Rural women want to work

by Opportunity International Australia

It’s over 40 degrees on a summer’s day in Kolhua, a rural area outside Kushinagar in Northern India. Sudha* is working the dry earth with a hoe as part of a group of other Musahar women, fortifying the village’s walking tracks between fields. Sudha is being paid for her daily labour through the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) scheme. The scheme aims to guarantee the right to work to all Indians, however in practice there are many barriers to accessing the scheme,…

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Melbourne Giving Circle supports Women’s Safety in India

by Opportunity International Australia

Content warning: This story discusses gender-based violence and trafficking, which some readers may find challenging. In India, gender-based violence and trafficking are a major societal problem, with one woman every four minutes reporting violence in her home, and over 60,000 communities identified as high risk of being targeted by traffickers. A group of Opportunity International Australia supporters and Board Directors from Melbourne decided to do something in response to shocking women’s safety…

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Lessons learned early empower girls to be safe

by Opportunity International Australia

Content warning: This story discusses gender-based violence and trafficking, which some readers may find challenging. As part of our Women’s Safety program in India – supporting women and girls to live a life free from violence and trafficking – Opportunity International Australia’s local partner runs a mentorship program for adolescent girls called Super Smart Shakti Network. Shakti means ‘feminine strength and power’, and the initiative empowers girls with knowledge and resources and…

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Leela ploughs her way to a brighter future

by Opportunity International Australia

Leela and her husband Deshveer have five children and live in the Dungarpur district in north-west India. Both Leela and Deshveer had labouring jobs, but their income was not enough to cover their living expenses and they struggled financially. The Dungarpur district is mainly agricultural, with many farms in the local community. With their financial situation worsening during the pandemic, Leela decided to take out a small loan with Opportunity International Australia’s local microfinance partner…

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Endang cleans up with local laundry business

by Opportunity International Australia

Endang lives in Perbaungan, South Sumatra in Indonesia. The residents in her local community have busy lives, which gave Endang an idea for a business. In September 2020, Endang opened a simple laundry business. She started from scratch by collecting clothes from residents in her neighbourhood, going door-to- door and asking if they required a laundry service. Her neighbours obliged and handed over their clothes for Endang to wash by hand and iron. It was hard work, but she managed to maintain a…

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Kusnidah turns things around for the next generation

by Opportunity International Australia

Growing up in a rural village in central Java, Indonesia, 62-year-old Kusnidah never finished primary school. Despite her parents’ hard work – her father in the rice paddies and her mother a housekeeper – poverty meant they couldn’t afford the fees. Kusnidah married and lived with her husband in a crowded slum in Jakarta. He worked as a driver, while Kusnidah stayed home with their young children. One by one the children hit school age, and the couple found themselves having to make a heartbreaking…

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Is microfinance an effective way to alleviate poverty?

by Opportunity International Australia

Tackling global poverty can sometimes seem like an insurmountable task. Decades of progress on poverty stalled in 2020 – when poverty rose due to the disruption caused by the COVID-19 crisis combined with the effects of conflict, cost of living pressures, and climate change. The World Bank estimates that globally 75 million to 95 million people were pushed into extreme poverty in 2022. Our efforts to end poverty have faced the greatest challenge in a generation, so how can we best support those…

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Ambassador Nomusa preparing for the trip of a lifetime

by Opportunity International Australia

Opportunity International Australia Ambassador Nomusa Ngwenya is one of the adventurers who will be trekking the Eastern Himalayas in India in October to raise money for Opportunity.  Nomusa has been passionate about the work of Opportunity for a long time and is excited to visit the microfinance clients she helps support in Varanasi at the end of the trek.  “I was interested in the physical challenge of the trek and also the opportunity to meet some of the loan recipients and see firsthand the…

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