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.
Bangladesh Health Leaders teaching invaluable lessons
In 2021, 550 new Health Leaders were trained in Bangladesh through our health programs, serving more than 120,000 people. In September, the first local impact evaluation was produced, measuring the change in knowledge, attitudes and practices based on the 25 modules of health education delivered by the Bangladeshi Health Leaders. The results were impressive, with the greatest improvement in topics involving women’s health - Menstrual and Reproductive Health (50 per cent improvement) and Maternal…
Read MoreJasmine's business venture with cows and goats
In the last two years, the pandemic has pushed millions of people in India back into poverty. Many of the people we serve through Opportunity International Australia’s small loans have been supported through this time to keep their businesses afloat. Jasmine is one of Opportunity’s loan recipients who has managed to improve her way of life during this time. Jasmine and her husband Mamad live in a small village in the west of India, in a modest house with two rooms and a kitchen. They both…
Read MoreVandana's creating spice for a better life
The surfaces in Vandana’s shop in Nagpur, India, are covered in a fragrant, colourful dust. Not because they’re unclean, but rather because of the flurry of powdered activity that happens here every day. Vandana and her husband Pawan run a spice shop, flour mill and mustard seed oil refinery in their village – three businesses they kickstarted with an initial small loan of Rs.30,000 (A$556.26) a few years back. The businesses earn Vandana and her husband Rs.25,000 (A$463.85) a month –…
Read MoreMeet Bindu: From one small loan to owning a small business
$300 — that's all it took for Bindu, a dedicated wife and mother in India, to buy the raw materials she needed to start her own broom-making business. What began as a way to make ends meet is now a thriving business with 9 employees! Watch her story below: Learn more about how small loans are helping women in Asia transform their family's lives.
Read More2022 Queen’s Birthday Honours for Opportunity community
Opportunity International Australia congratulates three recipients of the recent Queen’s Birthday Honours. John Anderson, former Deputy Prime Minister of Australia and current Opportunity Council Member, was awarded the Companion in the Order of Australia (AC). He received the honour for his eminent service to rural and regional development, to leadership in international agricultural research and food security, to social commentary, and through contributions to not-for-profit organisations. John…
Read MoreNew study highlights quality of life benefits of Microfinance
Opportunity International is proud to be part of a new study, launched on 1st June, which shows that Opportunity clients benefit from increased quality of life, improved healthcare, education and nutrition. 60_Decibels, a global, tech-enabled impact measurement company, interviewed 18k clients across 72 Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) in 41 countries in early 2022, including over 2,000 of Opportunity’s clients across 9 partners. The study, for the first time, gives standard, comparable outcomes…
Read MoreSelvi's Story: Overcoming COVID-19 misinformation
Selvi is 52 and lives with her two children in a rural area of India, where she runs a small tailoring business that she started through a small loan. With the help of our locally-led health response during India's second wave of COVID-19 in mid-2021, she was able to easily get vaccinated and get her business back on track. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, Selvi was nervous about getting vaccinated, unsure of what it entailed. Two previous major surgeries added to her hesitation, as did a lack of…
Read MoreOne year on from India’s COVID-19 crisis
In May 2021, India became the epicentre of the COVID-19 pandemic, recording over 400,000 daily cases and making headlines around the world as the Delta variant and a wide-reaching health crisis unfolded. With millions hungry, stranded, sick or unable to isolate safely, the COVID-19 crisis spread from cities to rural areas with a lack of health resources and access to care, leaving some of India’s poorest communities vulnerable and their essential health systems being decimated. In response to the…
Read MoreOpportunity’s response to climate change
The global poverty agenda in 2021 was dominated by two of the biggest challenges our clients will ever face: the COVID-19 pandemic and climate change, challenges that affect all of us, and are expected to push more than 100 million vulnerable households into poverty. These are challenges that affect our clients today, and in the future. In 2021, our partners in India and Indonesia helped clients through the pandemic, and with the support of our donors, we will continue to provide vaccination camps,…
Read MoreHelping COVID-19 patients breathe easier in Indonesia
In August 2021, Indonesia overtook India as the COVID-19 epicentre of Asia as the Delta variant spread and the country’s public health system became overwhelmed. In response to this humanitarian crisis, Opportunity worked to train five microfinance partners which reach over one million households, on critical modules of education on the prevention and management of COVID-19 and address hesitancy and misinformation related to vaccination. Opportunity and its partner YCAB Foundation also facilitated…
Read MoreFilters
-
Categories
- Agency
- Agriculture
- Ambassador
- Annual Review
- Bangladesh
- Banking
- Bequests
- CEO
- COVID-19
- Christmas
- Climate Change
- Corporate Supporter
- David Bussau
- Development
- Education
- Edufinance
- Entrepreneurs
- Faith
- Gender-based Violence
- Great Australian Curry
- Healing Fields Foundation
- Health
- Human Rights
- Hunger
- Impact
- India
- Indonesia
- Inequality
- International Women's Day
- Leadership
- Loans
- Meet Our Staff
- Microfinance
- Mother's Day
- My Choices
- Opportunity Magazine
- Philanthropy
- Philippines
- Poverty
- Sanitation
- Small loans
- Social Performance Management
- Supporters
- TLM
- Volunteer
- Water
- domestic violence
- gender gap
- safety
- social justice
-
Archives
- April 2024
- March 2024
- February 2024
- January 2024
- December 2023
- November 2023
- October 2023
- September 2023
- August 2023
- July 2023
- May 2023
- April 2023
- March 2023
- February 2023
- January 2023
- December 2022
- November 2022
- October 2022
- September 2022
- August 2022
- July 2022
- June 2022
- May 2022
- March 2022
- December 2021
- September 2021
- August 2021
- July 2021
- June 2021
- May 2021
- April 2021
- March 2021
- February 2021
- December 2020
- November 2020
- October 2020
- August 2020
- July 2020
- June 2020
- May 2020
- April 2020
- March 2020
- February 2020
- January 2020
- December 2019
- November 2019
- October 2019
- September 2019
- August 2019
- July 2019
- June 2019
- April 2019
- March 2019
- January 2019
- September 2018
- August 2018
- June 2018
- May 2018
- April 2018
- March 2018
- February 2018
- December 2017
- November 2017
- October 2017
- September 2017
- August 2017
- July 2017
- June 2017
- May 2017
- April 2017
- March 2017
- February 2017
- January 2017
- December 2016
- November 2016
- October 2016
- September 2016
- August 2016
- July 2016
- June 2016
- May 2016
- April 2016
- March 2016
- February 2016
- January 2016
- December 2015
- November 2015
- October 2015
- September 2015
- August 2015
- July 2015
- June 2015
- May 2015
- April 2015
- March 2015
- February 2015
- January 2015
- December 2014
- November 2014
- October 2014
- September 2014
- August 2014
- July 2014
- June 2014
- May 2014
- April 2014