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Haiti Solidarity Conference
October 10–12, 2008
To sign up, please download the PDF of our conference brochure.
Fonkoze—Haiti's Alternative Bank for the Organized Poor—is the largest micro-finance institution offering a full range of financial services to the rural-based poor in Haiti. Fonkoze is a Haitian Creole acronym for Fondasyon Kole Zepòl, which means, "The Shoulder-to-Shoulder Foundation". The word itself conveys the meaning, "in the midst of sharing". Our mission is to build the economic foundations for democracy in Haiti.
Established in 1994, Fonkoze currently has over 115,000 depositors, over 45,000 active borrowers (99% of whom are women), and 32 branch offices spread throughout every department of Haiti. The services offered by Fonkoze include:
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Solidarity group and individual loans that are used to start or expand a small business;
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Savings products geared towards meeting the needs of the poor;
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Currency exchange services that allow Haitians to change US dollars into Haitian gourdes at a preferential rate;
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Money transfer services that allow Haitians living overseas the opportunity to transfer funds to Haiti at a very low cost; and
- Literacy, business skills, and good health practices training, .
As of December 31, 2006, Fonkoze had over 9.5 million in savings deposits, over $9 million in loans outstanding, and loans overdue more than 30 days were 6.9%.
To sign up, please download the PDF of our conference brochure.