taz Talk and Film - Investor Responsibility in Microfinance Crises
Empowerment instead of aid? The Cambodian microfinance crisis exposes patterns of over-indebtedness despite microfinance’s promise of ethical finance. What responsibilities do investors bear?
Cambodia shows why microfinance repeatedly ends in crisis. The promise of empowerment through credit turned for many people into a spiral of over-indebtedness, land loss and existential pressure. How did a model once celebrated as an innovative tool against poverty became part of a human rights crisis?
When: Monday June 15., 2026, 6:30 p.m. to 8.20 p.m.
Doors open: 6 p.m.
Where: taz Kantine, Friedrichstr. 21, 10969 Berlin and livestream on YouTube.
No translation provided. Admission is free, but participation is only possible with a free ticket booked in advance. We therefore ask you to register via this ticket portal. Seats are limited, access to the event is barrier-free.
The documentary Debt Inc. – The Cambodian Microfinance Machine (30 mins), directed by Robin Narciso and Thomas Cristofoletti, traces the consequences of a globally celebrated development model and the role of international investors who financed its expansion for years. Broadening the discussion beyond Cambodia, socio-economist Isabelle Guérin explores in a keynote deeper structural problems within global development finance. An expert-panel discussion examines the responsibilities of public and private investors and asks why warning signs were ignored for so long. What obligations arise when investments contribute to harm? And what should change to prevent similar crises from happening again?
Discussion with:
Isabelle Guérin Research Director at the French National Research Institute for Sustainable Development (IRD) with extensive research experience on debt, financialisation, financial inequalities, and gender in the Global South.
Philipp Frisch Director at Human Rights Watch Germany documenting human rights abuses linked to predatory lending and abusive debt collection practices in Cambodia’s microfinance sector.
Ryan Brightwell is Deputy Director, researcher, and campaigner at BankTrack, focusing on the human rights responsibilities and accountability mechanisms related to harmful bank financing.
Moderator:
Sven Hansen Asia-editor at taz and curator Han Sen's Asiatalk.
In cooperation with Han Sen’s Asiatalk, FIAN Germany, Facing Finance and Sophia Cramer.
