International Year of Microcredit 2005
Global Microentrepreneurship Awards
Notes for a meeting at the Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation, held 12th October 2005.
The Global Microentrepreneurship Awards (GMA) was launched in 2004 by the UN Capital Development Fund (UNCDF), the Citigroup Foundation, and the GMA Student Alliance. The GMA is a key event to mark the UN 2005 International Year of Microcredit.
The UNCDF is a multilateral organization managed by the UNDP and has the specific task of mobilizing the UN’s human, financial and intellectual capital to advance the microfinance industry, especially in the least developed countries, and to reach out to UN country offices to secure local staff buy-in and support. The UNCDF hosts the GMA Secretariat in New York and is the coordinating partner.
In Jordan, the UNDP Country Office has unfortunately not been able to be actively involved as a GMA partner due to severe staffing constraints. The requested equivalent of I day per week of programme officer time could not be found. However, UNDP is active in the area of microfinance in 4 other ways:
Ø At the request of the RR/RC, the Donor Lender Coordination Group has established a Subgroup on Private Sector Development, which includes microfinance as a topic, in June 2005.
Ø UNDP Jordan is one of about 14 offices worldwide that are part of a pilot project for enhanced UNDP-UNIDO cooperation and there is a UNDP Head of Operations on the staff at UNDP in Jordan (since June 2005). The Head of Operations, Mr. El Qarara, is able to jointly represent UNDP and UNIDO in some areas such as microfinance.
Ø Some UNDP programmes, such as the environmental small grants programme, include awards to NGOs using microcredit as a tool for sustainable development activities at local level. Microcredit can be an important tool for empowering people to take control of their own lives. At a higher level of aggregation, microcredit can contribute to the attainment of national Millennium Development Goals
Ø The next National Human Development Report for Jordan, to be published 2006, is on the topic of Microfinance.
As noted above, the UNDP Country Office has not been able to be actively involved in the Awards process. However, we are committed to microfinance and entrepreneurship training as tools for development and therefore I am grateful for the invitation to today’s meeting and to the Awards Ceremony. If we can be of any assistance in the final run-up to the ceremony then we would be happy to help in areas such public relations and media contacts.