Empowerment of Women Through Microfinance

One of the most popular goals of most of the development programs and especially of microfinance programs is empowerment of women. Empowerment is closely related to the concept of power, which can be understood in terms of “power to,” “power within,” “power with,” and “power over.” Empowerment can be judged at various levels such as at individual level, family level, and collective level. Microfinance has become an important component of development, poverty reduction, and economic regeneration strategy around the world. By the early 21st century, tens of millions of people in more than 100 countries were accessing services from formal and semi-formal microfinance institutions (MFIs).