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Kiva Releases Its First World Refugee Fund Impact Report

Kiva, the international nonprofit connecting people through lending to alleviate poverty, this week released its first World Refugee Fund (WRF) Impact Report. Since 2016, the organization has funded loans to thousands of refugees and internally displaced people (IDPs) around the world. This inaugural World Refugee Fund impact statement clearly indicates that refugees who have endured unthinkable violence and living conditions are capable of demonstrating the highest possible loan pay-back behavior—repaying financial assistance as quickly and completely as the average global borrower. Kiva’s findings directly counter the misconception that lending to refugees and internally displaced people is "too risky."

Refugees often live in unfamiliar new host countries for years, desperately struggling to find work or re-establish some source of income for their families. With its innovative approach to mobilizing refugee lending, Kiva’s World Refugee Fund initiates a shift towards sustainable new solutions that can help both the displaced, and the communities that host them, by working with local financial institutions (Kiva Field Partners) to provide loans to refugees at scale.