The non-profit Calvert Foundation is launching a new Middle East Microcredit Giftshare project in order to extend much-needed microloans to woman-owned small businesses owners and other entrepreneurs in the Middle East. Calvert Foundation is putting up $25,000 for investment in the Microfund For Women in Jordan (MFWJ).

Recently, attention has focused on the growing demand for micro-financing in the Middle East. The number of women and others in desperate need of loans for small-business start-up costs and pre-financing is projected to triple in the next few years, according to experts at the World Economic Forum held in Amman, Jordan on May 21.

Founded in 1996, the Microfund for Women in Jordan provides individual and group loans ranging from roughly US $300 to US $3,500. MFJW?s three-year business plan for 2005-2007 includes plans for wider lending activity, the launch of a new insurance product and a new line of loans for home-based businesses. The Microfund is projecting a 39 percent increase in its lending portfolio to US $8.5 million by the end of fiscal year 2007.
Press release found here.