ECLOF International, a not-for-profit foundation based in Switzerland, is the hub of a network of socially driven microfinance institutions that provide financial and non-financial services to micro entrepreneurs and smallholder farmers, thereby promoting human dignity and enabling self-sustainability.
The ECLOF network consists of the global hub in Geneva and 14 independently governed and operated microfinance institutions (ECLOF members). Each ECLOF member institution provides financial and non-financial services to the disadvantaged and vulnerable directly in their communities. ECLOF International provides its members with access to technical support services to strengthen institutional capacity and expand depth, breadth and scope of outreach, and to new funding partners, resources and products.
Microfinance is an effective tool in enabling access to finance for disadvantaged communities who may not be able to access traditional sources of finance. Combined with capacity building, this can open up a path from vulnerability to self-reliance. ECLOF provides this financial access together with a range of non-financial services such as micro insurance and capacity building, e.g. on water and sanitation, bookkeeping, financial literacy, organic farming, and civil society development through the formation of groups.