New York, (ECA) — A report released today by the Microcredit Summit Campaign, surveying 1, 065 microcredit institutions, has found that as at 31 December 1999, these programmes had reached 13.8 million of the world's poorest people, 75 per cent (10.3 million) of whom are women. This represents an increase of 82 per cent in the last two years, or more than 6 million of the world's poorest, most of whom are women.
"Although it is called 'microcredit' this is a macro idea with vast potential", said Hillary Rodham Clinton, First Lady of the United States of America. "Whether we are talking about a rural area in South Asia or an inner city in the United States, microcredit is an invaluable tool in alleviating poverty, promoting self-sufficiency and stimulating economic activity in some of the world's most destitute and disadvantaged communities". Ms. Clinton was addressing a high-level panel on 'Microcredit: More than Access to Money' at the opening of the Beijing + 5 Conference on Women 2000 at UN Headquarters in New York.
Five years ago at the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing, the First Lady and other members of a microcredit panel launched the idea of reaching 100 million of the world's poorest families. These panelists were present today to assess and hold themselves accountable to progress made since 1995. Panelists included Noeleen Heyzer, Executive Director of the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM); Muhammad Yunus, founder of the Grameen Bank in Bangladesh; and Ela Bhatt, founder of the Self-Employed Women's Association of India. They were joined by Sam Daley-Harris, Director of the Microcredit Summit Campaign; Chief Bisi Ogunleye of Nigeria, Vice President of the Women's Environment and Development Organization (WEDO); and Mark Malloch Brown, Administrator of the United Nations Development Fund (UNDP).
The Campaign was officially launched in February 1997 with the goal of reaching 100 million of the world's poorest families, primarily women, by 2005. It defines "poorest" as the bottom half of those living below their nation's poverty line. The new report, "Empowering Women with Microcredit: Microcredit Summit Campaign Report 2000", emphasized that the Summit's greatest challenge is bridging the gap between its commitment to reaching the poorest and the lack of a sufficient number of effective poverty measurements currently in use.
"Microcredit is about much more than access to money," said Dr. Noeleen Heyzer Executive Director of UNIFEM. "It is about women gaining control over the means to make a living. It is about women lifting themselves out of poverty and vulnerability. It is about women achieving economic and political strength within their homes, their villages and their countries."
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