The Centre for Microfinance (CMF) Nepal was established in July 2000 to strengthen the capacity of microfinance institutions and enable them to provide savings, credit, and other financial services to the poor, with women as a focal point. CMF runs a wide range of programs designed to meet the emerging needs of microfinance institutions and its members. CMF engages in training, technical assistance, advisory services, research, knowledge management, policy advocacy, publication and documentation, dissemination of best practices, and networking among its shareholding, strategic, and associate members in partnership with national and international development organizations to promote and strengthen the microfinance sector. CMF’s Articles of Association 13 (f) states that the surplus earned by the organization shall not be distributed as dividends to the shareholding members. Rather, such profits shall be deployed for the development of the microfinance sector and poverty alleviation programs and CMF shall remain a not-for-profit organization.
Originally, CMF was a project implemented by the Canadian Centre for International Studies and Cooperation (CECI) funded by USAID and the Ford Foundation in 1998-2000. CMF has transformed from the project to an autonomous, privately owned national network organization that works to strengthen the microfinance sector and its member associations, institutions and individuals with a vision of “sustainable access to microfinance services for the poor”.