Students prepare a floral decorative design “Rangoli” during the celebrations to mark the annual harvest festival of 'Onam' at a school, in Chennai on September 10, 2024. (Photo by R.Satish Babu/AFP Photo)

People dance in a park on a foggy day in Huai'an, Jiangsu province, China October 10, 2017. (Photo by Reuters/China Stringer Network)

The shoemaker in Turkey, the potato seller in Vietnam, and the weaver in Bolivia are among the billions of low-income entrepreneurs who make the world go round. They are also the type of people who can benefit significantly from microfinance. Every year, the Consultative Group To Assist The Poor (or CGAP) hosts a photo contest asking entrants to submit photos based around the idea of microfinance.The purpose of the contest is to give amateur and professional photographers a chance to show the different ways that poor households manage their financial lives and make their lives better through financial inclusion. Photo: South Asia Regional Winner – “Bricks Worker”, Bangladesh. A private enterprise worker is working at a brick field. These small businesses are creating new job opportunities for many poor people. (Photo by Moksumul Haque)

New Market traders rescue an injured shopkeeper who got hurt during a clash with students from Dhaka college in Dhaka on April 19, 2022. (Photo by Munir Uz Zaman/AFP Photo)

Afghan children play at a brick-making factory on the outskirts of Jalalabad city, eastern Afghanistan on November 13, 2019. (Photo by Reuters/Parwiz)

Indian bride takes part in a mass marriage ceremony under chief minister's welfare scheme (Mukhyamantri Kanyadan Yojna) on the occasion of the Basant Panchami festival, in Bhopal, India, 30 January 2020. (Photo by Sanjeev Gupta/EPA/EFE/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

A polar bear plays with a pylon during celebrations marking its first birthday in an enclosure at Tierpark Hellabrunn zoo in Munich December 9, 2014. (Photo by Michaela Rehle/Reuters)

Gypsies gather at Appleby in Cumbria, United Kingdom on August 12, 2021, for the biggest horse fair of its kind in Europe, which lasts till Sunday. Typically the fair takes place in June, although COVID has pushed it back to August in 2021. In the region of 30,000 people are expected to attend. (Photo by Chris Strickland/Alamy Live News)