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Experiences of people with physical disabilities when accessing microfinance services in Bangladesh: A qualitative study

Expériences des personnes handicapées physiques lors de l’accès aux services de microfinance au Bangladesh: une étude qualitative
Debashis Sarker
p. 41-55

Résumés

Ce document présente les expériences des personnes handicapées physiques dans l’accès aux prêts de microfinance. La microfinance est apparue comme un outil pour éradiquer la pauvreté et autonomiser les pauvres; cependant, y accéder est difficile pour de nombreuses personnes ayant un handicap physique. Cette étude qualitative a été menée par le biais d’entretiens approfondis semi-structurés avec vingt personnes handicapées physiques au Bangladesh pour explorer leurs points de vue sur les problèmes auxquels elles sont confrontées pour accéder à la microfinance. Les données ont été collectées à la fois dans des zones urbaines et rurales et auprès de participants masculins et féminins. S’appuyant sur le modèle social du handicap, cette étude constate que les personnes handicapées physiques subissent une exclusion, une stigmatisation et des obstacles importants dans l’accès à la microfinance. Dans de nombreux cas, malgré les efforts des institutions de microfinance, le crédit n’est pas disponible pour de nombreuses personnes handicapées physiques, car elles subissent un comportement négatif et hostile de la part du personnel de la microfinance et des conditions de crédit inaccessibles. De plus, les personnes handicapées physiques ont moins de possibilités d’accéder à des services autres que le crédit, tels que l’épargne, l’assurance, la formation et les mécanismes de plainte. Pour relever ces défis, les institutions de microfinance doivent élaborer des réformes institutionnelles solides et adaptées aux personnes handicapées. Les personnes handicapées devraient être activement impliquées dans le processus d’élaboration des politiques. Cette étude partagera non seulement les expériences des personnes handicapées physiques dans le contexte des pays du Sud, mais fournira également des informations qui pourraient être utiles pour comprendre les défis auxquels d’autres personnes handicapées dans différents pays sont confrontées en termes d’inclusion financière.

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Notes de l’auteur

Acknowledgment: I am delighted to give my very special thanks to Professor Marc Labie, First Vice Rector, University of Mons, and Co-Director, CERMi, Belgium, for supporting me in gaining financial support from The University of Mons, Belgium, for data collection. I am very happy to thank all the participants in this research. Moreover, my special thanks go to the two anonymous reviewers for their supportive comments.

Conflicts of interest: There is no potential conflict of interest.

Texte intégral

Introduction

1The microfinance industry has achieved enormous growth and at the same time has enjoyed public recognition over the last decade (Schicks, 2013). Microfinance services have expanded their coverage to ensure easy access to financial services for many poor people, especially in the Global South, to help them meet their needs of consumption, asset building, business operations and management of risk (Armendariz & Morduch, 2010). Existing literature showcases the positive results of microfinance, especially studies from the leading nation of microcredit, Bangladesh (Roodman & Morduch, 2013). However, scholars have argued that, for some microfinance institutions (MFIs), the aim of reducing poverty is sometimes subsumed under an imperative to maximize profits and provide returns to the people who have invested in them (Schicks, 2013). As Sinclair (2012: XVI) stated, “microfinance has been hijacked by profiteers, and we need to reclaim it for the poor.” A study conducted in Bolivia found that MFIs reached “not the poorest of the poor but rather those just above and below the poverty line” (Navajas et al., 2000: 334). Moreover, scholar argued that “microfinance model is likely to lock people in a ‘poverty trap’” (Bateman & Chang, 2012: 2). Microfinance has also come under criticism for excluding the most vulnerable section of society – for instance, people with disabilities (Sarker, 2013, 2015, 2020a). Since people with disabilities face severe discrimination and exclusion in society, they do not have an easy solution to exit poverty (Ring, 2015). Microcredit “is one door through which people can escape from poverty” (Yunus, 1998: XVII). MFIs and their programs have become a vital factor in strategies to eradicate poverty and support the growth of small and medium businesses (Hulme, 2000). However, access to microfinance is difficult for the majority of people with disabilities who want to be entrepreneurs (Mulubiran, 2021; Nuwagaba & Rule, 2016; Nuwagaba et al., 2012).

2Stigmatization creates social exclusion and affects quality of life for people with disabilities in Bangladesh. People without disabilities treat people with disabilities as inferior, fostering discrimination against people with disabilities who want to run their own businesses (Alexander & Morgan, 2005). Due to such prejudice, many people with disabilities who are entrepreneurs face competitive disadvantages compared with people without disabilities (Roni, 2009; Mwangi, 2013; Kitching, 2014). Difficulty in accessing financial resources is often a serious disadvantage, and people with disabilities may encounter challenges selling their products or services due to the prejudices of potential clients (Handojo, 2004). People with disabilities thus face two major barriers to self-employment: access to capital and shortage of customers (Viriri & Makurumidze, 2014; Maziriri & Madinga, 2016).

3Microfinance has achieved some of its objectives, but not fully for the poorest (Karnani, 2007), and very little is known about the impact of microfinance on the lives of people with physical disabilities. Therefore, the motivation of this paper is to explore the experiences of people with physical disabilities in accessing microfinance. The rest of the paper is organized as follows: the first section discusses the context of Bangladesh, people with disabilities and microfinance; the second section presents the conceptual framework of this research; the third section discusses the research method; the fourth section explores the findings of the research; the fifth section presents a discussion of the results; and, finally, the sixth section ends with concluding remarks, limitations of this research and future research opportunities.

Bangladesh, people with disability and microfinance

4Bangladesh is a low- to middle-income country in South Asia, with a population of more than 163 million (World Bank, 2019). Despite some political instability and governance issues, the country has achieved substantial economic growth over the last decade and has performed well in reducing poverty (ibid.). There have been positive changes in human development and improvements in social indicators such as gender equality, girls’ literacy rates and education, and women’s empowerment. Indeed, Bangladesh is doing notably better in terms of these indicators than neighbouring countries, such as India (Sugden, 2015).

5The Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) has identified that 6.94 percent of people have a disability in Bangladesh (BBS, 2016). There is some debate over this number, and Bangladesh’s government is working hard to identify people with disabilities to improve the accuracy of the figure. Further research is urgently needed to examine whether many people with disabilities experience marginalization from family, society and institutions, including financial institutions. The majority of people with disabilities in Bangladesh experience vulnerabilities, such as economic hardship and reduced access to basic rights. To ensure equal rights in society, the Bangladeshi government passed “The Rights and Protection of the Persons with Disabilities Act” in 2013. In this act, a person with a physical disability1 is defined as “a person who does not have one or both hands or legs or is partly or fully paralyzed in hand and leg function and/or cannot balance themselves without support.” Despite this act, people with physical disabilities still do not enjoy basic rights, including access to finance. Access to microfinance services is one route that might help people with physical disabilities find their way out of their vulnerable situation.

6Microfinance began in late 1970s in Bangladesh. Microfinance activities are mainly conducted by non-governmental organization microfinance institutions, specialized government banks, such as Grameen Bank, and other state-owned and private commercial banks. Moreover, different ministries of the Bangladesh government also offer microfinance services to low-income people (Microcredit Regulatory Authority, 2017). Microfinance is perceived as the best tool for enhancing economic development for rural and urban low-income people in Bangladesh, and MFIs offer multiple pioneering financial products and services to serve poor clients to meet their diversified financial needs. Bangladesh is a role model for the world in terms of MFIs (Yuge, 2011). In June 2018, more than 31 million clients were being served by MFIs, the number of total licensed NGO-MFIs was 805, total MFI branches numbered 18.196, total number of employees was 153.919, and credit disbursement was Bangladeshi Taka (BDT) 1 201.91 billion (Microfinance Regulatory Authority-Management Information System, 2018). The sector, thus, not only offers financial services but also creates important employment opportunities.

7In brief, Bangladesh has progressed well socially (e.g., increasing girls’ education) and economically (e.g., GDP growth). However, despite the Bangladeshi government passing an act for people with disabilities, these individuals are still oppressed and marginalized from such progress (NGDO, NCDW & BLAST, 2015). This study aims to explore the experiences of people with physical disabilities in accessing microfinance in Bangladesh.

Conceptual framework

Social model of disability

8The social model of disability “provides a way of conceptualizing the disadvantage experienced by people with impairments” (Burchardt, 2004: 735). More specifically, it argues that people with disabilities face socio-economic and physical disadvantages and negative perceptions that impede their full and equal participation in society, and which thus create disability (Oliver, 1996). Disability is caused by socio-environmental factors and removing these barriers can reduce discrimination against and oppression of people with disabilities. The social model of disability explores social attitudes about people with disabilities that contribute to their social exclusion and views society as failing to embrace diversity (Marks, 1997). Disability is thus more than a health issue and has a complex nature, being both the characteristics of a person’s body and the features of the society in which they live (WHO, 2017).

9It is important for organizations to understand the concept of the social model of disability. Without this understanding, institutions may not be able to design specific programs or products which will empower people with disabilities. Although there is no substantial evidence from the literature that financial institutions, specifically microfinance institutions, have limited understanding of this concept, it can be stated that microfinance institutions should be aware of the social and environmental barriers that people with disabilities experience (Sarker, 2020a). The social model of disability is useful to help institutions understand the oppression that people with disabilities experience in society (Henning, Van Rensburg & Smit, 2004). Understanding this model might allow microfinance institutions to be more disability friendly, as it assists in understanding the environmental factors that people with disabilities experience in their everyday lives that impede access to existing services. Institutions can support people with disabilities by creating favourable environments. More specifically, in the microfinance industry, staff should be trained on disability issues, policies should be disability sensitive, and the operational aspects of microfinance should be evaluated through a disability lens.

10This model of disability is relevant for this study because it will help to explore how the experiences of people with physical disabilities are influenced by social and environmental factors. This understanding will further help microfinance providers understand how they can make reasonable accommodation for people with disabilities to ensure their access to microfinance.

United Nations convention on the rights of persons with disabilities (UNCRPD)2 and financial inclusion

11The human rights based global development agenda for people with disabilities, the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD), has advocated for ensuring the dignity of people with disabilities in society. In this convention, the financial inclusion of people with disabilities is a particular focus. For an example, Article 12.5:11 says that:

parties shall take all appropriate and effective measures to ensure the equal rights of persons with disabilities to own or inherit property, to control their own financial affairs and to have equal access to bank loans, mortgages and other forms of financial credit, and shall ensure that persons with disabilities are not arbitrarily deprived of their property.

12In this convention, Article 27.1.f:20 also emphasizes the need to “promote opportunities for self-employment, entrepreneurship, the development of cooperatives, and starting one’s own business.” This guideline is mandatory for state parties to implement so that people with disabilities can gain access to financial institutions for accessing credit without discrimination. Based on that premise, people with disabilities should be able to gain access to microfinance. However, whether this is actually happening, and how, remain questions of interest to researchers.

13In summary, UNCRPD outlined a framework that is designed to remove all barriers and oppression for people with disabilities so that they may fully participate in society. The convention “is based on the principles of inclusion and integration, which are among the underpinning concepts of the social model of disability” (Cobley, 2011: 362).

14Having discussed the conceptual framework, in the next section I will discuss the research method utilized in this research.

Research method

15A qualitative study was carried out to represent the personal experiences of people with physical disabilities in accessing microfinance. Qualitative research helps picture the everyday life of participants (Holloway, 2005). In this empirical research, twenty semi-structured in-depth face-to-face interviews were conducted by using purposeful and snowball sampling strategies for data collection. This research targeted people of both genders with physical disabilities who had accessed microfinance in urban (under Dhaka district) and rural (under Mymensingh district) settings in Bangladesh. Interviews were carried out at the respective respondents’ premises or another location that was convenient for the participant. Participants had the freedom to take a break and to decide how long they would like to take to respond to the interview questions. Interviewees were asked to share their experiences of accessing credit, particularly with regard to the credit delivery mechanisms, credit renewal procedures, accessing training, interactions with MFI staff, and post-credit communication.

16Data was analysed using qualitative content analysis, which is defined as “a research method for the subjective interpretation of the content of text data through the systematic classification process of coding and identifying themes or patterns” (Hsieh & Shannon, 2005: 1278). After reading and rereading all the transcripts several times, initial coding was conducted, and those codes were organised under potential themes. The researcher also compared the codes with other codes developed from the text, when considering the entire data set. Finally, the main themes and sub-themes were developed. Because of this familiarity with the data, the author chose to manually analyse the data using Microsoft Word and did not use any specialized software.

17Among the participants, half were female, and half were male. The majority of participants had a primary-level education and were married. The average age of participants in both urban and rural area was 37 (see table 1). This study revealed that the majority of the participants had a disability from birth. Other reasons for disability included accidents and diseases such as typhoid and polio.

Table 1: Demographic information of participants

Table 1: Demographic information of participants

18Out of the total number of participants from the urban area, nine were married and two unmarried. In terms of education, in the urban area, three participants had no education, six had a primary-level education, and two were college graduates. In the rural area, out of nine participants, four were men and five were women. Eight were married and one was unmarried. In the rural area, two participants had no education and seven of them had primary-level education. While most of the respondents were involved in self-employment activities, such as small trade, rickshaw pulling, clothes selling, chicken or pigeon selling, embroidery business, cattle rearing, a few participants had paid jobs. To protect the participants’ identification, pseudonyms are used in this research.

Findings

Experiences of accessing credit information

19Credit related information is crucial to making an informed decision. For instance, access to credit information assists customers to self-evaluate their ability to use credit in an effective manner. However, almost all respondents with physical disabilities in this study indicated having limited credit information. Due to this lack of information, many people with physical disabilities in Bangladesh do not even know that MFIs can provide them with credit services. One of the female participants emphasized the importance of receiving accurate credit information: “Many MFI staff do not discuss the details of the credit conditions. Being people with physical disabilities, we need to know many things, but we do not get that information” (Maliha, from a rural area).

20This study found that people with disabilities are ostracized and thus have less opportunity to meet people outside of their home and family. One female participant (Eti Ara, from a rural area) shared her view that there are many people with disabilities who cannot go outside at all, because they are severely criticized when they do. Many participants therefore argued that MFI staff should visit their homes to communicate with them regarding credit as they do not have the confidence to go outside and meet with MFI staff. This suggests that MFIs should identify people with disabilities, they should go to them and discuss the opportunity to access financial resources. One female participant said: “I do not have the confidence to go to the MFIs. If the MFIs were to come to us and let us know about the opportunities for getting credit then we would be happy” (Hiramony, from an urban area).

21Borrowers may have to go to an MFI’s office to collect the information about credit that they need, but this is a challenge to many people with disabilities, as they face physical and mental barriers to making such a journey. In many cases, people with physical disabilities have to travel for a long distance to reach the office, and they experience exclusion from public and private transportation services, often incurring a higher cost for travel. One male participant said that “it is not easy to travel to the MFI office, but I have to go, since I need to get credit information. I cannot walk and the cost of transport is too high” (Gopal, from an urban area). Due to exclusion and marginalization, the respondents became reluctant to visit the institutions or interact with the staff. In another case, one participant (Ashik, from an urban area) said that, after managing to travel to the MFI office, he had to wait a very long time to meet with the credit officer. Moreover, he had to stand in a queue, which was difficult for him. He felt discouraged from visiting the office again.

Experiences of accessing credit

22The findings of this study show that the participants have diverse experiences of accessing credit. The majority of them indicated that one of the pre-conditions to receive credit was to save with an MFI first. However, saving is challenging for them because of the poverty that people with disabilities experience in Bangladesh. Therefore, they have little to no capacity to save. Almost all the participants shared their frustration about managing forced savings before accessing credit. One male participant explained, “You need to save a certain amount of money […] for at least four weeks with the MFI before getting credit. That is very hard for us. However, without saving first, I could not get credit” (Kamran, from an urban area). Beyond the condition of forced savings, many participants also had difficulties in providing the required documents that MFIs require before accessing being able to credit. As one male participant explained, “The conditions of credit are hard. Sometimes, I need to provide my land-related documents to MFIs as part of the credit requirements to access credit. I do not think it is fair because I am poor, how could I provide a land document?” (Ali from a rural area).

23This study further found that almost all participants argued that the interest rates MFIs charge were higher for people with disabilities. Other available informal sources, such as moneylenders, charge even higher interest rates, and since alternative options for accessing credit are very limited, many people must accept the MFIs’ interest rates which seemed to be higher for them if they want to access credit. One female respondent said, “The MFI charges high interest against credit. No one has taken care of this issue, so we have no alternative option other than receiving credit from the MFIs […] We cannot do anything” (Maliha, from a rural area).

24Scholars have long known that there is a relationship between socioeconomic status and disease and death (Link & Phelan, 2006). When people have access to resources, they live better, healthier lives. People with disabilities in Bangladesh have less access to resources and are they are likely to experience more health issues, such as disease. Moreover, this study found that, due to cultural misconceptions about people with disabilities, many people treat people with disabilities as unworthy, due to their limitations in earning an income. This study further found that many participants felt that MFI staff expect people with physical disabilities to die younger, and thus treat them as potentially risky clients. As one male participant explained, “MFIs think us risky. They do not want to give us credit. They say that we are not active people. Moreover, MFI thinks that we might die early” (Kamran, from an urban area). This is a social barrier unique to people with disabilities.

25The findings revealed that MFIs prefer to offer credit to those people with disabilities who are MFI’s existing customers. Due to this reason, many people with disabilities who have no credit relationship with MFIs became excluded. For example, one male participant, Ruhul Amin, shared that, although he knows that very few MFIs provide credit to people with disabilities, the information he received did not help him at all to access credit. He was frustrated to learn that MFIs provide credit to those people with disabilities who have prior transaction records with MFIs.

26This research found that during the credit evaluation, eleven people with physical disabilities experience longer assessment time for credit approval. This was mainly due to MFI’s misconception against people with disabilities. One male participant (Gopal) from an urban area stated that “MFIs think that people with disabilities might use credit for purchasing food items and due to this they might not be able to repay debt. Thus, in most of the cases, MFIs avoid to offer credit to people with disabilities.”

27In terms of repaying credit, thirteen people with physical disabilities find it is hard to repay within the first week or month of receiving credit, because they need time to invest the money before starting repayments. As one male participant said, “We need to start repayments in the next two weeks or month after receiving the credit, and that is hard for us. We do not have much chance to invest, but need to repay” (Kashem, from an urban area).

28Eight participants argued that when people with physical disabilities miss instalments, even due to valid reasons, such as health issues or uncertain and irregular income, MFI staff force them to repay. One male respondent said, “Once I missed a single repayment to [the MFI] due to my medical treatment. They [MFI staff] came to my house to get the money. When they saw my condition, they withdrew money from my savings account” (Nur Nabi, from a rural area). Sometimes MFI staff stay long hours at disabled people’s houses until they get their repayment. They will sometimes scold people with physical disabilities and forcefully collect repayments. One male participant explained, “Credit officers persist in such a way that even if you have a dead body in your home, you have to repay the credit” (Rahamat Ali, from an urban area).

29Many participants interviewed explained that when they asked for a credit renewal, some MFI staff expressed continued mistrust about the repayment capacity of people with physical disabilities. Due to these negative perceptions, many MFIs are reluctant to renew the credit. However, when people with physical disabilities can maintain a profitable relationship with the MFI for a long time, it becomes easy for them to access credit. As one male participant said, “Initially, I had to wait for a long time to get credit, but now it has become easy and faster, as I have been a customer for the last four years” (Rahamat Ali, from an urban area).

30When people with physical disabilities live in the slums of the city, they experience particular kinds of challenges; for instance, they may be refused credit due to their migration status. As one female participant said, “We are poor. We do not have a house in the city and more importantly we are not local people. We migrated to the city. Due to this, they (MFI’s staff) do not believe us. MFI’s staff think that we might migrate again, to another place” (Meherban, from an urban area).

Experiences of accessing non-credit services

31Along with credit services, microfinance institutions offer numerous non-credit services, such as savings and insurance facilities, training, and financial literacy education to clients in Bangladesh. However, as with accessing credit services, accessing non-credit services is difficult for many people with physical disabilities.

Savings

32Savings might help people with physical disabilities to address multiple uncertain events, such as financial shocks, but due to poverty, many of the respondents could not afford to save with MFIs. For instance, Farid Uddin, a male participant from a rural area stated, “I do not have enough income. I know saving is important for me, but even though I wish I could, I cannot save.”

33Sometimes, withdrawal of their own savings from MFIs is challenging for people with physical disabilities. One female participant shared the story of the complexity of her own savings withdrawal process: “They [MFI staff] gave me a small amount of my savings out of my total savings […] I had to wait for a few weeks to withdraw the rest (Shabana, from a rural area). This study further found that people with physical disabilities have also experienced fraudulent behaviour once they had saved money or opened an insurance account. One male participant said, “I saved in a Samity [cooperative] that works for people with disabilities, but I never got that money back. They fled with my savings […] I also opened an insurance account [with a different company], but that company also fled (Ali Hossain, from a rural area).

Training

34While capacity building is important for people with physical disabilities, this study found that only five people with physical disabilities access training. Although some microfinance institutions have training provisions for their clients, it was found that microfinance institutions have less capacity to organize training for people with physical disabilities. One female participant stated, “Most people with physical disabilities do not get any training” (Rupban, from an urban area). In a few cases, some opportunities to receive training are available, but due to health issues, it may be difficult for people with disabilities to join a training session. One female participant said, “I cannot walk; I cannot stand up. How could I join in?” (Meherban, from an urban area). However, a few people with physical disabilities revealed that they had received training on how to use credit for business purposes.

Complaints

35A complaints management mechanism of an MFI might play a powerful role in resolving complaints such as complaints related to credit issues, staff behaviour. While many MFIs have a complaints management channel, this research found that many people with physical disabilities were not aware of how to make complaints against MFI staff. Moreover, they also believed that their complaints might not be properly investigated by MFIs. One male participant stated, “I don’t think I can make complaints. If I make a complaint, they [MFI] will listen but they will not do anything […] they [the staff] do not care about my complaint, why should I go to them?” (Ripon Mia, from an urban area).

Discussion

36This research found that only a few MFIs are willing to provide credit to people with disabilities. However, the study participants mentioned that they were unaware of those institutions. It also found that the unavailability of information about credit excludes many people with physical disabilities from accessing microfinance services. The participants shared their views that microfinance institutions’ efforts to share credit information with physical disabilities are insufficient. To ensure the financial inclusion of people with physical disabilities, microfinance institutions should take the necessary initiatives so that the correct information about credit can flow to people with disabilities, giving due consideration to their diversity and levels of impairment.

37In the context of Bangladesh, disability is often seen in a negative way by society, and the staff of financial service providers are part of that culture (Sarker, 2020b). Many participants stated that, despite some efforts made by microfinance institutions, many of their offices are yet to be made disability friendly. The government is obliged to follow the guidelines of UNCRPD to accommodate appropriate services for people with disabilities, but many microfinance institutions are not, and microfinance institutions could be further instructed by the government’s regulatory body to ensure an environment that could assist people with physical disabilities to access their offices. The majority of participants expressed the view that MFI staff need to be more empathetic towards people with physical disabilities. A better mutual understanding between MFI staff and people with disabilities might support both to build a longstanding partnership in which each party would contribute to the other’s success.

  • 3 In a group lending methodology of microfinance, credit is given to a small group of people where on (...)

38Many participants shared their experiences that during the credit life cycle, people with physical disabilities go through an extensive level of misconception and mistrust, negative behaviours from the microfinance service borrowing group leaders3 and MFI staff. Based on negative perceptions, MFIs treat many people with physical disabilities as risky clients, which leads them to be excluded from accessing microfinance. This finding is similar to a study conducted in Uganda which found that credit officers were biased against borrowers with disabilities (Labie et al., 2015). This phenomenon is linked with societal behaviour towards people with physical disabilities. Society needs to be made more aware about people with disabilities so that they do not face any discrimination based on prejudice.

39Many participants shared their experiences of unfavourable credit conditions forming barriers to accessing credit. Participants argued for more flexible credit conditions, better behaviour from MFI staff, and disability-friendly delivery of financial services. This finding echoes other research work. For instance, studies conducted in Bangladesh by Sarker (2020b), in Ecuador by Beisland and Mersland (2017), and in Uganda by Nuwagaba et al. (2012), suggested that for greater financial inclusion of people with disabilities, microfinance institutions should adapt their microcredit product such as charge low interest rate, offer flexible repayment schedule to meet the needs of people with disabilities. Moreover, Chaudhry (2016) argued that lengthening the period of repayment could also be supportive of people with disabilities. Although designing new credit products for people with disabilities might be challenging for many MFIs as a result of the level of financial investment and extra effort required, even minor changes in credit products will be able to ensure their financial inclusion. Participants also shared their thoughts that MFIs should include them in the whole process, from designing the financial products to delivery of them, so that the MFIs’ financial services include them and cater to their needs appropriately.

40The UNCRPD clearly states that people with disabilities should have access to financial institutions. Thus, despite the challenges, MFIs should work on designing their credit products in alignment with the needs of people with disabilities. When people with physical disabilities are unable to repay a debt, the MFIs need to critically analyse the reasons behind that failure on a case-by-case basis. The institutions can, then, make effective decisions to deal with the needs of people with physical disabilities. In this way, they could develop a better understanding of the situation and contribute to creating a more favourable credit-lending environment for people with physical disabilities.

41Capacity development, especially for training, is a critical component of MFIs in developing their staff or empowering their clients by sharing knowledge and boosting confidence. When people with physical disabilities receive microfinance, they are advised by the MFI staff to use the credit productively, but due to a lack of training and skills, they might not be able to do this, because accessing training is not easy for them. Thus, providing business training and knowledge about money management might ensure that the credit is used in the best ways. Many participants shared their experiences that, despite some of the MFIs having existing training facilities, they had limited access to the training (ILO, 2002; Sarker, 2020b). Providing training might be expensive for the institution, but it might also reduce costs because borrowers would become more effective business people through training. People with physical disabilities should therefore receive training, especially in income generation activities, and this in turn might help people with physical disabilities to become more valued in society and feel empowered.

42This study further revealed that people with disabilities in Bangladesh are affected by stigma in society. Due to stigma, people with disabilities do not enjoy basic human rights, such as education, employment, and participation in the community, which are principal concerns of the UNCRPD (Buljevac, Majdak & Leutar, 2012). Moreover, people with disabilities are labelled unworthy and less capable because of stigma (Link & Phelan, 2006). Affram, Teye-Kwadjo and Gyasi-Gyamerah (2019) emphasize the importance of educational materials related to disability issues that could potentially reduce stigma at all levels – family, community and society. Due to support of such initiatives from the government, disability organizations and advocacy groups, people are slowly becoming more educated about disability in Bangladesh.

43Complaints management has become a fundamental part of the MFIs’ operations. To provide customized service to clients, MFIs need to ensure that everyone can easily file a complaint. Many participants shared their experiences that the MFIs’ complaint management mechanisms are not disability friendly. Thus, participants argued that MFIs should have proper channels for filing complaints and an effective mechanism to deal with each complaint to ensure accountability and transparency. Having the ability to make complaints against any kind of misconception or injustice in microfinance lending might reduce the chances of discrimination against people with physical disabilities.

44This study has presented the experiences of people with physical disabilities when accessing microfinance. Understanding their experiences is important when developing policies for the empowerment of people with physical disabilities. Implementing policies that are fair to people with disabilities will strengthen their position and also comply with the provisions of UNCRPD.

Limitations

45This research has some limitations. It focused on the experiences of people with physical disabilities and did not include persons with other disabilities, and no interviews were conducted to try to access the perceptions of the MFI staff or regulators to explore how they perceive people with physical disabilities and their access to microfinance. This would be a valuable addition to future research in this area. Further, a number of people without disabilities could have been interviewed to see how they accessed microfinance and whether they had similar kinds of experiences. It is also worth noting that the results of this research cannot be generalized to other countries, or even across Bangladesh, because only people in Bangladesh with physical disabilities who have accessed microfinance were interviewed in this research. Moreover, the sample size of this study was quite small.

Conclusion

46This research has found that, despite the positive work of the Bangladeshi microfinance industry, MFIs and regulators have not taken sufficient measures to ensure the financial inclusion of people with physical disabilities. MFIs should be more flexible in designing their policies to serve more people with physical disabilities without discrimination. They should also ensure that their clients receive proper training, which is one of the key issues in the financial inclusion of people with physical disabilities. To align with the UNCRPD (2006) guidelines on training, MFIs should ensure that trainers are qualified in disability sensitive training perspectives and that training includes material on disability awareness, ensuring that staff are aware of alternative modes of communication and training techniques and materials that meet the needs of people with disabilities. MFIs should further develop disability-friendly policies, and staff should be sensitized to these policies through training so they can build a more positive mindset for dealing with people with physical disabilities.

47In addition, establishing an accessible complaints management procedure within the MFIs might help to protect the rights of people with disabilities. Flexible credit conditions, especially interest rates and repayment schedules, might help to support people with physical disabilities. Access to all kinds of credit-related information might also support people with physical disabilities to access microfinance. This research also argued that community leaders, regulators, and particularly the government, could all play a significant part in improving livelihoods and ensuring that people with physical disabilities are valued and respected in society.

48This opens up possibilities of doing further research in the future on the financial inclusion and empowerment of people with physical disabilities. Further research might investigate why people with physical disabilities are excluded from accessing microfinance in Bangladesh, and what challenges MFIs face in serving people with physical disabilities. Further, a study could be carried out to understand the perceptions of credit officers towards people with physical disabilities. Despite some improvement in the socio-economic conditions of Bangladesh, more research is needed to see if there is any change in the socio-economic conditions of people with disabilities.

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Notes

1 http://www.ilo.ch/dyn/natlex/docs/ELECTRONIC/95795/118013/F51789448/BGD95795%20Booklet.pdf.

2 https://www.un.org/disabilities/documents/convention/convoptprot-e.pdf.

3 In a group lending methodology of microfinance, credit is given to a small group of people where one person becomes the group leader, who has influence over other the people in the group, especially in screening other potential customers.

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Titre Table 1: Demographic information of participants
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Debashis Sarker, « Experiences of people with physical disabilities when accessing microfinance services in Bangladesh: A qualitative study »Alter, 16-3 | 2022, 41-55.

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Debashis Sarker, « Experiences of people with physical disabilities when accessing microfinance services in Bangladesh: A qualitative study »Alter [En ligne], 16-3 | 2022, mis en ligne le 05 octobre 2022, consulté le 19 mai 2025. URL : http://journals.openedition.org/alterjdr/1115 ; DOI : https://doi.org/10.4000/9ifb

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Debashis Sarker

PhD Research Scholar, School of Social Science, The University of Queensland, Australia
d.sarker[at]uq.net.au

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