A national seminar on monga, jointly organized by the Institute of Microfinance (InM), and the Palli Karma-Sahayak Foundation (PKSF), was held at the PKSF auditorium, PKSF Bhaban, Agargaon, Sher-E-Bangla Nagar, Dhaka, on 2-3 January 2008. Dr. A.B. Mirza Md. Azizul Islam, Honorable Advisor for Finance, Planning, Commerce, and Post and Telecommunication, Government of Bangladesh, inaugurated the seminar as the Chief Guest. Dr. C.S. Karim, Honorable Advisor for Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries and Livestock, Government of Bangladesh, was present at the occasion as a Special Guest. Dr. Wahiduddin Mahmud, Chairman of InM and PKSF, and former Advisor for Finance and Planning, Government of Bangladesh chaired the session.
 

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December 26, 2007: Workshop on Microfinance, Poverty and Rural Development

The Institute of Microfinance (InM) has organized a daylong workshop on ‘Microfinance, Poverty and Rural Development’ on December 26, 2007. The workshop was organized for the researchers working on or interested in doing research on microfinance, poverty and development. The main objective of the workshop was to orient researchers on current and future issues on these topics and to develop a professional relationship between the researchers and the InM.  Around twenty five researchers were present during the workshop. Renowned researchers like Dr. Mahabub Hossain, Dr. Rushidan Islam Rahman, Dr. Mustafa K. Mujeri, Dr. Sajjad Zohir, Dr. Atiur Rahman and Dr. M.A. Hakim were the key speakers at the workshop. Dr. Mahabub Hossain Executive Director, BRAC inaugurated the workshop. Dr. M.A. Baqui Khalily, Executive Director, InM made introductory remarks on the workshop. Dr. M.A. Latif, Director, InM coordinated the workshop. Dr. Wahiduddin Mahmud, Chairman of the Institute concluded the workshop.

August 2, 2007: InM starts the research program on microfinance sector interest rate:
InM has started a research program on “Is Lending Interest Rate in Microfinance Sector Really High? – An In-depth Examination”. The program is targeted towards a  examination of lending interest rate of microfinance organizations in Bangladesh. The project is being funded by the Grameen Trust. InM has collaborated with United International University (UIU) and Independent University Bangladesh (IUB) for this program. Students from both universities will act as the enumerators in approximately 12 districts and will collect information from almost 1200 microfinance beneficiaries. InM will provide the technical support and  publish the result in two months.

June 21, 2007: InM starts impact assessment of PRIME interventions in Lalmonirhat district:

InM with a view to evaluating the impact and effectiveness of PRIME interventions to mitigate monga on the ultra-poor people of Lalmonirhat district, has started an Impact assessment survey of PRIME interventions in the district. Over 1500 households will be surveyed. InM Executive Director Professor M.A. Baqui Khalily and Dr. Jashimuddin, DGM, PKSF started the program through a day long training program of the enumerators. The survey will continue for a period of 7 days and the result of the program will be published later through a national seminar on monga.

June 19, 2007: In-house seminar on PRIME - selected case studies
An in-house seminar jointly organized by InM and PKSF was held where InM intern Ms. Irfat Jahan presented selected case studies of PRIME interventions in the Lalmonirhat district. She presented a total of 4 case studies during the seminar. Earlier in the month she went to Lalmonirhat and interviewed a total of 24 families on whether they received PRIME assistance to mitigate monga and to what extent it benefited them.

May 18, 2007: GOB signs ‘PROSPER’ project deal with United Kingdom Government.

On the 17th of May, 2007  Government of Bangladesh and United Kingdom Government signed a 7 year deal to develop the financial sector and to reduce poverty in Bangladesh. The project is titled “Promoting Financial Services for Poverty Reduction” (PROSPER). Within this project the UK Government acting through Department of International Development (DFID) will grant Bangladesh Government £ 40 million of which £ 32,800,000 will be financial aid and £ 7,200,000 will be on technical cooperation for Institute of Microfinance (InM) to develop Training, Consultancy, Research and Knowledge Dissemination in Microfinance sector of Bangladesh. The project will end on the  31st December, 2013.

April 12, 2007: InM organizes a dialogue on microfinance education and research

InM invited academicians in the field of development studies, practitioners and researchers in the field of microfinance to give their opinion on future of microfinance education and research. Participants included teachers from public and private universities, researchers from renowned organizations such as BIDS, BRAC-RED, ERG to name a few. Participants emphasized particularly on microfinance education, the general consent was that, microfinance should be introduced in development studies programs as a course and in future could be extended as a separate degree, depending on the market. InM should facilitate the universities through extending it facilities and expertise in the field of microfinance. Former Governor of Bangladesh Bank and Vice-Chancellor of East-West University, Dr. M. Farashuddin presided over the meeting and Prof. M.A. Baqui Khalily coordinated the meeting.

February 14, 2007: InM honors Nobel Laureate Prof. Muhammad Yunus:

In the 5th General Meeting of the Institute, InM took the opportunity of congratulating Prof. Muhammad Yunus, Nobel Laureate for Peace in the year 2006. Institute Chairman Dr. Wahiduddin Mahmud presented him with garland  and a crest of congratulation. Executive Director of the Institute Prof. M.A. Baqui Khalily and other board members were also present in the occasion.

January 31, 2007: A discussion meeting with top 30 MFIs.

InM conducts a discussion meeting with top 30 MFIs of Bangladesh, on the future contribution of Institute of Microfinance in the microfinance sector. The participants insisted that, InM should help the sustainability of MFIs through creation of skilled and educated labor force directed towards microfinance sector, MFI sustainability research, building of a knowledge network among the MFIs etc. Dr. Wahiduddin Mahmud, Chariman, InM and Professor M.A. Baqui Khalily, ED, InM were  present in the meeting.

December 26-28, 2006: InM organizes its first training program:

From 26-28 of December 2006, InM organized a training program titled “Poverty, Microfinance and Development” for Journalists of both newspapers and electronic media. The program was inaugurated by Dr. Salehuddin Ahmed, Governor, Bangladesh Bank. Twenty seven journalists attended the 3-day program. The participants were given lectures by microfinance researchers and practitioners from both national and international organizations. On the second day the participants were given a rare opportunity to observe the activities of a regular group meeting of the microcredit borrowers of three branches of Grameen Bank and then they were briefed on the branch activities. Later that day, they were briefed by Prof. Muhammad Yunus, Managing Director, Grameen Bank, on the present and future of Grameen Bank and that of microfinance. On the completion of the training,  Chairman of the Institute Dr. Wahiduddin Mahmud presented the trainees with certificates of successful participation.