Message-ID: <349ACF3B.7EFF@microcreditsummit.org> Date: Fri, 19 Dec 1997 11:47:07 -0800 From: Alistair Hodgett <mailto:hodgett@MICROCREDITSUMMIT.ORG> Subject: Microcredit Update: A New Year's Resolution from the UN To: mailto:DEVEL-L@AMERICAN.EDU
The United Nations General Assembly yesterday (December 18) passed a resolution calling upon UN bodies to incorporate microcredit into their poverty eradication programs during the Decade for the Eradication of Poverty. The resolution praises microcredit as an effective tool in freeing people from the bondage of poverty.The UN resolution (52/194) is the latest in a series of actions in support of microcredit this year including the passage of the ‘‘Microcredit for Self- Reliance Act of 1997'' (H.R. 1129) in the U.S. House of Representatives.
UN Secretary General Kofi Annan has said that "microcredit is a critical anti-poverty tool - a wise investment in human capital." UNDP Administrator James Gustave Speth has described microcredit as "a radically new approach to poverty eradication -- one that relies on empowering poor people through access to key economic assets."
The United Nations Development Program (UNDP), through the $41 million MicroStart program announced at February's Microcredit Summit, is working to build the capacity of new or existing microfinance institutions in 25 countries.
More information is available at http://www.microcreditsummit.org
Alistair Hodgett Microcredit Summit
Working to ensure that 100 million of the world's poorest families, especially the women of those families, are receiving credit for self-employment and other financial and business services by 2005.