In recent years, Micro-finance has become a major component of the strategy for poverty alleviation. Unfortunately, these schemes only provide subsistence living for the clients with no possibility of providing jobs for others in the community. In order to promote rapid socio-economic development and effectively contribute to the fight against poverty it is extremely necessary to facilitate the transformation of small-scale income earning activities from subsistence living to micro-enterprises that provide jobs for others. Through the additional employment created, the operations or activities will increase the impact of the micro-finance schemes and accelerate the rate of poverty reduction. It will enable the poor to become not only income-earners but also employers of the poorest of them (those that may not even qualify for micro-credit).

Technology has a very important role to play in the transformation of client activities. It can improve the rate of production, level of productivity and income of the operation. Furthermore, use of better technology in the management of Micro-Finance Institutions (MFI) can improve efficiency, reduce cost of administration and facilitate access of their clients to information that will improve their operations.

UNESCO has embarked on a project whose objective is to facilitate the introduction of appropriate technologies into income-generating activities and the adoption of better technologies by the micro-credit agencies for the provision of services and information to their clients.

This website is intended to serve two purpose:

• To disseminate information on policies and practices that affect the growth of the activities of clients of micro-finance.
• To create awareness of among managers of micro-finance of the simple technologies that that clients can use in the activities that they finance.

Thus the website will serve as a virtual clearing house for information on policies and technologies that are useful for the MFI.