UK-based development charities Plan International and Care International have teamed up with corporate partners Barclays and Accenture to run a £10 million microfinance programme in ten developing countries. Barclays will provide the funding and consultancy and Accenture will offer management advice on running the projects, which include village savings schemes and loans, while the two NPOs will run the local schemes. Barclays said the three-year programme would affect 800,000 people in Africa, Asia and South America, adding that they approached Plan International and Care International because they have the best local knowledge of the countries in which the projects will run.