VOA慢速英语 2007 0625a

This is the VOA Special English Development Report.

Officials from some of the world’s leading banks were in the Netherlands last week for a conference on microfinance lending. The Dutch government and the nonprofit organization Women's World Banking¹ organized the two-day meeting.

Mary Ellen Iskenderian is president of New York-based Women's World Banking. She told us from The Hague that people generally think of microfinance only as credit -- a small loan to start a business. But she says her group has found more and more demand for other kinds of services. The organization is working with banks to offer products like, for example, life insurance policies.

She says the question is not if commercial banks can offer microfinance services in a profitable² way. The question is how. The bankers discussed things like the use of mobile phone technology in banking, and the ability of banks to offer services in rural areas. Could people do their banking at the point of sale in a village store, for example?

The meeting brought together representatives of the Global Network for Banking Innovation³. Women's World Banking formed this network six years ago. It says the aim is to guarantee responsible lending to poor borrowers.

The network is an alliance⁴ of twenty-four major banks and microfinance lenders in fifteen countries. Members include Citigroup in the United States, ING and Triodos Bank of the Netherlands, Equity⁵ Bank of Kenya and Banco Azteca of Mexico.

Women's World Banking offers support, advice and training to more than fifty microfinance organizations. The group says it has helped twenty-three million people in forty-three countries receive financial services over the last thirty years. Most but not all of the borrowers are women.

As more commercial banks enter microfinance, Mary Ellen Iskenderian says women must continue to be served, to reduce poverty. She says research has shown that for every dollar a female borrower earns from her business, ninety-eight cents is reinvested.

Women use their earnings⁶ to educate their children and to improve their homes and communities, she says. A similar male borrower, she says, will reinvest only sixty cents.

The idea for Women's World Banking came out of the first United Nations Conference on Women, held in Mexico City in nineteen seventy-five.

And that's the VOA Special English Development Report, written by Jill Moss⁷. You can learn more about women's issues at voaspecialenglish.com. I'm Faith Lapidus.

1 banking   

n.银行业，银行学，金融业

参考例句：

• John is launching his son on a career in banking.约翰打算让儿子在银行界谋一个新职位。
• He possesses an extensive knowledge of banking.他具有广博的银行业务知识。

2 profitable   

adj.有益的，能带来利益的，有利可图的

参考例句：

• That business became profitable last year.那项生意去年变得很赚钱。
• The convention business is very profitable for the hotel industry.承办会议业务能给旅馆业带来很高的利润。

3 innovation   

n.改革，革新，新观念，新方法，新发明

参考例句：

• There are all sorts of possibilities for technical innovation.技术革新的门道很多。
• An enterprise should encourage innovation.企业应鼓励创新。

4 alliance   

n.同盟，同盟国，结盟，联姻

参考例句：

• China will not enter into alliance with any big power.中国不同任何大国结盟。
• The new alliance was very much in evidence.新的联盟上星期很引人注目。

5 equity   

n.公正，公平，（无固定利息的）股票

参考例句：

• They shared the work of the house with equity.他们公平地分担家务。
• To capture his equity,Murphy must either sell or refinance.要获得资产净值，墨菲必须出售或者重新融资。

6 earnings   

n.工资收人；利润，利益，所得

参考例句：

• That old man lives on the earnings of his daughter.那个老人靠他女儿的收入维持生活。
• Last year there was a 20% decrease in his earnings.去年他的收入减少了20%。

7 moss   

n.苔，藓，地衣

参考例句：

• Moss grows on a rock.苔藓生在石头上。
• He was found asleep on a pillow of leaves and moss.有人看见他枕着树叶和苔藓睡着了。