Publication:
A reality check: the slow progress of digital transformation in Islamic social finance (ISF)
Abstract
It is true that significant progress in poverty alleviation and social empowerment has been made over the last 30 years. For OIC member states, the percentage of the population living below the poverty line has decreased by almost half, from 41.1% in 1990 to 22.4% in 2011. However, as populations increase, the number of people suffering from hunger, malnutrition and disease remains considerable. The 'OIC - 2025 Programme of Action' stresses, in Article 1.6, that Member States must transform their approach through "effective utilization of Islamic social finance (Zakat, Waqf) at national and intra-OIC level" in order to address poverty. It is quickly forgotten that the celebrated 17 social development goals (SDG's) were established as a result of unaccomplished targets in the MDGs or Millennium Development Goals. UNICEF warned at the advent of the 17 SDGs in 2015 that despite rapid progress in poverty alleviation, the most marginalized children in the world's poorest populations remain so. Sub-Saharan Africa didn't meet the goal for extreme poverty reduction, with not a single country achieving the goals set for maternal mortality rate reduction. As much focus shifts to ISF, its role in reducing these nightmarish rates has increased substantially.
Keywords
Islamic social finance , Social development goals (SDGs)
Citation
Mahomed, Z. (2019). A reality check: the slow progress of digital transformation in Islamic social finance (ISF). IF Hub, 1 (April 2019), pp. 7-8.
Publisher
INCEIF
DOI
Files
reality_check_slow_progress_digital_transformation_Islamic_social_finance_ziyaad.pdf
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