United Nations, Department of Public Information/NGO Report

By Jill A. Tardiff, WNBA UN DPI/NGO Representative

UNITED NATIONS DESIGNATES 2005
AS INTERNATIONAL YEAR OF MICROCREDIT

In an effort to make known its many broad-based initiatives to the general public, the United Nations and its various agencies and departments designate certain decades, years or days as commemorative events. Promoted by UN council resolutions, these occasions set in motion discourse on critical topics, as seen in the case of "literacy" (United Nations Literacy Decade, 2003-2012; International Literacy Day, Sept. 8), "peace and nonviolence" (International Decade for a Culture of Peace and Non-violence for the Children of the World, 2001-2010), "slavery" (International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition, 2004), "rice" (International Year of Rice, 2004), and "women" (International Women's Day, March 8). Many Bookwoman readers are familiar with such occasions from the "UN Calendar for Peace" reprinted from time to time in their chapters' newsletters.

2005 has been proclaimed the International Year of Microcredit. Here is an excerpt from a press release dated Nov. 18, 2004, published by the UN Department of Public Information:

The United Nations launches the International Year of Microcredit today in an effort to build support for making financial services more accessible to poor and low-income people. It will aim to raise public awareness about microcredit and microfinance and promote innovative partnerships among governments, donors, international organizations, non-governmental organizations, private sector, academia and microfinance clients.

The Year's overarching goal is to provide greater access to credit, savings, insurance, transfer remittances and other financial services for poor and low-income households in order to move toward more secure livelihoods and prosperous futures.

"The world had set an ambitious course to meet the Millennium Development Goal of cutting in half, by 2015, the proportion of people living on less that one dollar a day. Microfinance is a powerful tool to help us get there," said Mark Malloch Brown, Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

Although microcredit and microfinance have already had a positive impact on the household income and quality of life of millions of poor people, many still lack access to financial services that could raise their standard of living and protect them against economic setbacks. Billions of people could benefit from financial services, although today only a tiny fraction of this demand is being met. To meet this huge gap in services, the Year calls for constructing inclusive financial sectors that strengthen the powerful, but often untapped, entrepreneurial spirit that exists all over the world…

... Another primary aim of the Year is to increase public awareness about the reliability of microfinance clients, especially women, in repaying loans, managing household incomes, building assets and enterprises and contributing to the economy.

Speaking about the Year, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan said, "The great challenge before us is to address the constraints that exclude people from full participation in the financial sector. The International Year of Microcredit offers a pivotal opportunity for the international community to engage in a shared commitment to meet this challenge. Together, we can and must build inclusive financial sectors that help people improve their lives."

Likewise, Her Royal Highness Princess Mathilde of Belgium, who was named Emissary for the International Year of Microcredit 2005, characterized the Year this way: "The Year of Microcredit will highlight how women's talents and innovation, together with access to credit and savings, can give them the power to make long term investments in their families, communities, and their children's lives."

For more information about the Year of Microcredit refer to www.yearofmicrocredit.org and www.un.org/esa/socdev/poverty/poverty.htm