Status update — February 28, 2020

Kiva and People's Forum have ended their partnership after over 7 years and almost $2.5M USD in loans raised. This Lending Partner has repaid its outstanding balance to Kiva in full, and these funds have been distributed to lenders. We thank People's Forum for the years of collaboration and wish them success in their future endeavors.

Status update — December 26, 2016

Due to regulatory changes by the government of India, Kiva is no longer able to send funds to People's Forum. As a result, Kiva has moved this Lending Partner to inactive status. This means People's Forum is no longer fundraising loans on the website, though Kiva fully expects the partner to continue to send repayments owed to Kiva lenders for as long as the partner has an outstanding balance. If the regulations change and this partner requests to fundraise on Kiva again, Kiva is willing to re-open their line of funding. We will first conduct any additional monitoring and due diligence tasks we believe necessary before allowing the partner begin fundraising for new loans.

Partner description: 

People’s Forum is a development organization based in Odisha, India that has been working for the sustainable development of rural regions and communities since 1989. Its objective is to strengthen rural economies with local resources and through programs in mental health, elementary education, human trafficking prevention, income restoration, drought mitigation and health and hygiene awareness.

People’s Forum has been working with women’s self-help groups since 1994. Today, it works with 120,000 rural women through its network of 30 branches spread across Odisha and Chattisgarh. The organization’s microfinance program is called Mission Annapurna, and is based in the belief that women are the backbone of the rural economy, and that, with the right resources, they can power economic recovery.  

Mission Annapurna provides microcredit as well as micro-savings and micro-insurance services to women who work in weaving, handicrafts, metalwork, fishing, and more. The majority of loans go to workers in agriculture and allied activities. These women are also encouraged to save at their local banks so that, over time, they can invest their own money to build their businesses. But microfinance is only one piece of this solution. Working in 15 districts throughout Odisha, Mission Annapurna also provides financial literacy training, business development services and market access to help clients lift themselves out of poverty and graduate to formal banking systems.

Kiva funding will be utilized by People’s Forum to expand Mission Annapurna’s projects and economically empower marginalized and underserved segments of the population, especially those deemed too ‘risky’ to serve by other financial institutions. In particular, Kiva loans will be used to help leprosy-affected families, transgendered individuals, disabled persons, single mothers, widows and other vulnerable groups. 

Mission Annapurna’s microfinance portfolio is managed by Annapurna Microfinance Private Limited (AMPL). AMPL is a Non-Banking Finance Corporation that was established by People’s Forum’s management team in 2010 to meet the growing demand for financial inclusion in Odisha and other states. AMPL is a legally separate entity that grew out of the mission and vision of People’s Forum and Mission Annapurna, and shares the objectives to empower vulnerable members of the communities it serves. People’s Forum and AMPL have overlaps in their management team, operational staff and Board of Directors.

In addition to its microcredit program, People's Forum, provides the following non-financial services --

• Mission Ashra: A rehabilitation home for mentally-ill women. 

• Mission Ashayen: A rehabilitation program for women who've been previously trafficked. 

• Mission Asha: An elementary education program for underprivileged students.