Creating access to credit for water and sanitation: women's self-help groups in India

This paper looks at the development of a water and sanitation loan fund deployed through a network of women’s self-help groups in Southern India. The success of the loan fund reduced barriers to credit from formal lending institutions and increased investment in water and sanitation facilities. Results from this case study indicate that micro-finance principles can be successfully applied to the water and sanitation sector. The objectives of this case study are to summarize what is known about this loan program and explore the possibilities and limitations of this new financing model for the water and sanitation sector.

[Paper to be presented at the IRC symposium Sanitation for the Urban Poor, Delft, The Netherlands, 19 - 21 November 2008]