sedp mba

WHY IS THE CHURCH INVOLVED IN THE MICRO-INSURANCE BUSINESS? To us at SEDP-MBA, the answer is simple: because we would like to serve the poor better. We started with (and still do) various programs for the poorest and most vulnerable – nutrition, disaster response, sustainable agriculture, coastal resource management, among others. Then some 25 years ago we piloted a social enterprise program to support women micro-entrepreneurs with micro-financing, skills training, and other support services. It has succeeded in helping many families of entrepreneurial poor to improve their overall well-being and progress out of poverty. It has since grown into the largest Church-based microfinance NGO in the country today, SEDP Inc.

Getting into micro-insurance, a decision made more than ten years ago, was a natural progression in line with SEDP’s mission to empower the poor in the spirit of the Gospel. Micro-insurance, especially in the mode of a members-oriented and members-led mutual benefit association (MBA), provides social protection that addresses vulnerabilities of significant income-loss due to death or illness in the family. Under the umbrella of SEDP MSI (Mutually Supporting Institutions), microfinance and business development services enable our members to move forward to better lives and more opportunities, while micro-insurance helps them sustain these gains by protecting them from setbacks along the way.

Soon we hope to provide more protection relevant to our members’ expanding needs, including risks due to climate-induced disasters, even as we seek to continuously improve our services and reach out to more sectors to fill-in their gaps in social protection.