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Corporate Social Responsibility
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11.26.2007 - 09:56am ET
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ACCION Debuts New Film about Microfinance
'Voices from the Field' Profiles Lives of Poor Microentrepreneurs on Three Continents
(CSRwire) BOSTON, MA - November 26, 2007 - ACCION International today announced the
debut of a new film about its work in microfinance, the practice of
providing small loans, business training and other financial services to
help poor entrepreneurs around the world.
Filmed on location in Latin America, Africa and the United States and
narrated by CBS News’ Mike Wallace, Voices from the Field demonstrates
how microfinance can provide an effective tool in helping to alleviate
global poverty.
In their own words, clients from Peru to Tanzania explain how access to
financial services has helped to put a roof overhead, pave dirt floors,
provide running water and educate children, allowing them to pull
themselves out of poverty with dignity and pride.
Voices was produced and directed by Stephen Atlas of Far Corners
Productions of Waltham, Massachusetts, and is available for viewing online
at www.accion.org, or
on DVD, free of charge, by contacting ACCION at 56 Roland Street, Boston,
MA, tel. 617-616-1515.
About ACCION
ACCION International is a private, nonprofit organization with the mission
of giving people the financial tools they need – microenterprise loans,
business training and other financial services – to work their way out
of poverty. A world pioneer in microfinance, ACCION was founded in 1961
and issued its first microloan in 1973 in Brazil. ACCION
International’s partner microfinance institutions today are providing
loans as low as $100 to poor men and women entrepreneurs in 25 countries
in Latin America, Asia, Africa and the United States. In the last decade
alone, ACCION partners have disbursed more than 17.9 million loans totaling
more than $12.3 billion; 97 percent of the loans have been repaid.
Selected for the fourth consecutive year for its pioneering approaches to
poverty alleviation, ACCION was among 43 organizations awarded the 2007
Social Capitalist Award by Fast Company magazine. ACCION has also been
awarded Charity Navigator’s highest rating – four stars – for
efficiency and sound fiscal management. For more information, visit www.accion.org.
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