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Our purpose as an assembly is to launch a global campaign to reach 100 million of the world's poorest families, especially the women of those families, with credit for self -employment and other financial and business services by the year 2005. We commit to the development of sustainable institutions which assist very poor women and their families to work their way out of poverty with dignity.
To this end we endorse the efforts outlined below and pledge to assist with those that fall within the purview of our institution:
- Build institutional capacity to reach very poor people in developing countries by (1) strengthening existing microcredit, savings, and business development institutions through networking and exchange of experience, (2) preparing new practitioners through programs of training for social entrepreneurs and microcredit managers, and (3) promoting appropriate policy, legal and regulatory changes;
- Build institutional capacity to reach poor people in industrialized nations and in economies in transition by (1) strengthening existing microcredit, savings, and business development institutions through networking and exchange of experience, (2) preparing new practitioners through programs of training for social entrepreneurs and microcredit managers, and (3) promoting appropriate policy, legal and regulatory changes;
- Develop, announce, implement, and update an Institutional Action Plan outlining how our institution will contribute to the fulfillment of the Microcredit Summit's Goal;
- Enlist others in the campaign to meet the Summit's goal, promote a learning agenda and the exchange of best practices, and encourage the development and fulfillment of institutional action plans; and
- Work with the media to expand awareness, fuel implementation, and enlist new participants in the campaign.
The Summit estimates that up to US$ 21.6 billion will be required to meet the estimated needs; the allocation of these funds being highly conditional on the absorptive and expansion capacity of the microfinance institutions to use the funds. The resources needed to achieve this goal will come from multilateral and bilateral donors, government agencies, grant making organizations, the general public, banks, financial markets and other commercial sources, and the savings, interest payments and service charges of the microcredit clients and others in their communities.
Out of a commitment to these goals and to the spirit of the Microcredit Summit Declaration and Plan of Action, I sign below on behalf of my institution.
Hari Srinivas
J a p a n |
The Virtual Library on Microcredit
Council of Advocates
4 February 1997 |
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