Islamic Microfinance can eliminate the Poverty from the world

AlHuda Centre of Islamic Banking and Economics (AlHuda-CIBE) jointly with Akhuwat organizing an International Conference on Islamic Microfinance on June 13, 2011 at Faisal Masque Auditorium in Islamabad.

The objective of this conference is to share the experiences and research of the seasoned scholars and practitioners of Islamic Microfinance from all over the world for ensuring poverty alleviation from the world. A variety of experiences and models in Islamic Microfinance, Shariah Principles, QArz-e-hasan, Waqf, Micro-Takaful and the use of Technology in Islamic Microfinance will be discussed and shared at the Conference.

One of the important points is to share the Qarz-e-hasan model of Akhuwat which has so far achieved the milestone of Rs. One Billion (Rs.1,000,000,000/-) lending to over 90,000 poor beneficiaries. Almost 17,000 million people live below the poverty line in the world of which 44% live in the Muslim majority countries which become the prime reason behind Islamic Microfinance. In the recent past, the international donor agencies like: USAID, CGAP, World Bank, IFC, Frankfurt Finance School etc have conducted surveys and research which became convincing that Islamic Microfinance in the genuine need in these Muslim majority countries. At the moment 300 Islamic Microfinance Institutions in 32 countries including: Indonesia, Kenya, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Yemen, Egypt, Sudan, Tanzania, Mauritius, South Africa, Malaysia and Pakistan are working on Poverty alleviation. Due to its more productive role, Islamic Microfinance is gaining popularity in those countries where Muslims are in minorities. AlHuda-CIBE has take initiative to setup an Islamic Microfinance Network in coordination with many Islamic Microfinance institutions to bring them together at one platform.

The Organizer of the Conference Mr Zubair Mughal (CEO, AlHUda-CIBE), while declaring the objectives and targets, said “Pakistan is gaining a unique position in Islamic Microfinance, and playing a leading role in this sector, and so hosting of this conference on Islamic Microfinance will further strengthen this idea” Mr. Zubair further explained that this conference will make Islamic Microfinance globally popular and and it will work as the genuine ray of hope for the 40% Pakistanis living below the poverty line.

Other national and International institutions participating in this conference are Islamic Relief Pakistan (IRP), ASASA, CWCD, Muslim Aid, Helping Hand, Khwendo Kor, Scottish Government, Nymet Islamic Microfinance, Awqaf-South Africa, Albaraka-MPCS. Pakistan Microfinance Network (PMN) and Islamic Microfinance Network also supporting this conference.