6.6 million
families accessing small loans and financial services
926,695
families supported by Health Leaders
325,421
children in school thanks to education loans
78,521
women benefited through our programs and training
60 Decibels: Driving Impact
In 2022 and 2023, Opportunity was part of a global study showing that small loans are an effective tool for:
- increasing quality of life
- improving income and household outcomes
- reaching women and families without other alternatives for capital.
The 2023 MFI Index, conducted by 60 Decibels, found that 94 per cent of Opportunity International Australia’s microfinance clients in Asia reported improved quality of life, thanks to the small loans. A total of 1,947 small loan clients from seven of Opportunity’s microfinance partners were surveyed in India and Indonesia, between November 2022 to June 2023.
YOUR IMPACT: MEASURING WHAT REALLY MATTERS
your impact: microfinance
5,110,453 families in India and 1,467,710 families in Indonesia are benefiting from small loans and financial services, with more than 95 per cent of our loan clients being women.
Women like Dia who lives with her family in South Sumatra, Indonesia. Together with her husband, she runs a blacksmith selling kitchen knives, and sickles and machetes used for harvesting. With a loan of IDR 3 million (A$300) Dia bought additional materials to increase production and is now selling to new markets in Bengkulu, Palembang and Jambi.
Opportunity continues to work with our local partners to identify the areas where the need is greatest, bringing opportunities to the families and communities that need them most across India and Indonesia.
Your Impact: Health
Through our locally-led health programs in India, Bangladesh and Indonesia, 926,695 families were supported by Health Leaders and Health Entrepreneurs in Asia. Last year, 1,509 new Health Leaders and Health Entrepreneurs were trained to deliver essential health education, products and services.
Opportunity's Health Programs expanded their reach in 2023 with Health Leaders reaching more low-income families in hard to reach areas.
> Pramila is proud to be a Health Leader in her community
We're also helping Health Entrepreneurs connect communities with telehealth, providing more family protection with Health Finance and establishing outpatient care clinics extended with Indian government support.
Your Impact: Education
Opportunity EduFinance provided school fee loans to 325,421 families in India, Indonesia and Pakistan to ensure their children go to school and receive a quality education. School improvement loans have been provided to 12,579 schools to improve school facilities and education quality in these regions.
The goal of Opportunity EduFinance is to help accelerate an end to the global education crisis.
> Mama Ovi's determination to educate her children
Your support helps more kids go to school and stay in school, while improving the quality of education schools provide. We'll continue to work with finance partners across Asia to expand, including offering education loans like school fee loans and school improvement loans, and improving the quality of the education children receive.
Your Impact: Women's Safety
In India, 60,447 people were educated in trafficking prevention and 18,074 people were educated and supported to prevent gender-based violence.
While financial empowerment and safer families and communities go hand-in-hand, there is a strong need to integrate livelihoods-based approaches that improve women’s economic standing, with rights-based education for women and girls, as well as their families and communities.
> Lessons learned early empower girls to be safe
We continue to take an evidence-based approach to preventing gender-based violence and trafficking. Partner and third-party evaluations undertaken in 2023 will inform our approach in 2024 and beyond as we scale this work.
Life is better thanks to a buffalo loan
We reached over 5.1 million women and families with small loans across India — including rural and hard to reach areas. 95% of these loan clients are women.
Madina is a married mother of three living in Gujarat, India, who is now running a successful buffalo milk business thanks to a Buffaloan from Opportunity’s local partner in India.
“Our life is so much better than before,” said Madina. “We were always stressed about money, but now we save a bit so that’s helpful.”