Archnet > Publication > Mercy Corps: A market-integrated response to an emergency in Kyrgyzstan

<div>Mercy Corps has been working in Kyrgyzstan since 1994, focusing on microentrepreneurship, food security, small-holder farming and livestock development and conflict mitigation. Established in 2004 through the consolidation of five Mercy Corpsaffiliated micro-credit agencies, Kompanion, a community development financial institution specialising in group lending, now employs over 1,000 staff, has 94 offices and is Kyrgyzstan’s largest micro-finance institution, per number of customers. In June 2010, conflict erupted in Osh and Jalal-Abad provinces of southern Kyrgyzstan. Thousands of households lost family members, homes and possessions, as well as business assets. When the conflict broke out, over 45,000 of Kompanion’s 109,900 clients were in the affected areas. Many of these clients needed credit relief quickly and additional assistance to recapitalise their businesses.</div><div><br></div><div>This article focuses on the emergency assistance Kompanion provided for its clients and the mechanisms put in place to provide</div>

Type

news article

Year

2011

Mercy Corps has been working in Kyrgyzstan since 1994, focusing on microentrepreneurship, food security, small-holder farming and livestock development and conflict mitigation. Established in 2004 through the consolidation of five Mercy Corpsaffiliated micro-credit agencies, Kompanion, a community development financial institution specialising in group lending, now employs over 1,000 staff, has 94 offices and is Kyrgyzstan’s largest micro-finance institution, per number of customers. In June 2010, conflict erupted in Osh and Jalal-Abad provinces of southern Kyrgyzstan. Thousands of households lost family members, homes and possessions, as well as business assets. When the conflict broke out, over 45,000 of Kompanion’s 109,900 clients were in the affected areas. Many of these clients needed credit relief quickly and additional assistance to recapitalise their businesses.

This article focuses on the emergency assistance Kompanion provided for its clients and the mechanisms put in place to provide

Currey, Robin, Meghan Neumann and Patrick Eckford. "A market-integrated response to an emergency in Kyrgyzstan." Humanitarian Exchange Magazine 51 (2011), accessed September 16, 2013. http://www.odihpn.org/humanitarian-exchange-magazine/issue-51/a-market-integrated-response-to-an-emergency-in-kyrgyzstan.