These guidelines illustrate how microfinance can effectively support the elimination and prevention of child labour under certain circumstances, and they describe when the local context is not appropriate for microfinance. They provide guidance to organizations involved in eliminating child labour about how to utilize this tool so that households continue to have access to financial services after a donor-sponsored project has ended.

Some key findings include

• the importance of savings
• the importance of pricing loans in a sustainable way (not disguising grants as loans)
• the risks from targeting one group and excluding other members of the community from access to services
• the advantages of partnering with experienced financial services providers (NGOs, rural banks, credit unions, etc)
• the importance of considering other options when the conditions for microfinance are not right