In Quest for Development: Microfinance During Political Uncertainty; Case Study from Syria

Amal Moustafa Kikhia

In the Literature of Microfinance, there has been a long debate, whether it has achieved its goals and left a traceable impact on the lives of the poor. And as a Microfinance is a tool for development, but how does it perform during political uncertainty. To answer this query, we conducted 20 case studies in the Syrian context during the prolonged war. We found that the provided Microfinance is considered a developmental extension to relief as it is not regarded as typical Islamic Microfinance; we can call it subsidized Microfinance. Moreover, one implication of our study is that Microfinance services have minimal impact in terms of poverty alleviation as the vulnerability of the conflict-affected population is compound. And Microfinance alone cannot achieve its targets if it is not accompanied by a capacity-building program, especially for women. The impact of Microfinance services on Women empowerment was at its secondary levels as mostly nothing has changed.

Key Words: Microfinance, Sustainable Development Goals SDGs, Poverty Alleviation, Women Empowerment

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