The Isuru Project enlisted the expertise, experience and the capacity of grass root level organisations in delivering the project services as retailers. Hence, the project was instrumental in the capacity development of a large number of community based nongovernmental organisations. This paved the way for the development of a large number of microfinance institutions which formed the microfinance infrastructure of the country. Some of these institutions operate at the national level and have the capacity to mainstream and become national level formal financial institutions 24 . It was necessary to assess the success of the project from the point of view of its main objective, i.e., helping the poorest of the poor to cross the poverty line within a given period of time. To assess this, two impact assessment surveys were conducted by the project office by employing hired field workers specifically trained for this purpose 25 . The findings of the two surveys are basically similar and have vindicated the cost incurred in financing the project: •  The head counting of the surveyed beneficiaries revealed that the percentage of female participants was around 67%, thereby confirming the national average (1997). This had increased to73% by 2005. •  75% of the beneficiaries had attended schools and were able to read and write (1997). This literacy rate was somewhat below the national average of 92%, but can be explained as due to the abject poverty with which the group under reference was afflicted and therefore had been disadvantaged.
Examples of HRH’s leadership range:   From domestic initiatives within The Prince's Responsible Business Network to help ensure UK businesses and communities are resilient to the effects of climate change;    To launching the ClimateWise Principles and encouraging the insurance industry to take a leading role in addressing risks posed by climate change;    To support for our hosts Accounting for Sustainability, who have for many years given practical guidance to firms on how to embed sustainability considerations into business decision-making. I have had the great pleasure of engaging with HRH on a number of occasions, and I can think of few people more knowledgeable about the sustainability agenda or as committed to it. Four years ago, he rightly put me on the spot, highlighting that climate-related risks will have serious financial impacts, and asking what regulators were doing about them. HRH’s challenges are even more germane today as the impacts of climate change continue to mount and the time to act continues to shorten. This year has seen blistering heatwaves in North America and Europe, hurricanes in North America and typhoons in South East Asia; droughts in Southern Africa and Australia; unprecedented rainfall causing deadly landslides in Japan; and now the devastating wildfires in California. The human costs of these events are immeasurable. And the financial losses are significant. Last year set a record for weather-related insurance losses at around $ Losses in 2018 may again be among the worst in history.