Aide-Mémoire

At its fifty-first session, held on 11 February 1997, the General Assembly adopted a resolution  on the "First United Nations Decade for the Eradication of Poverty" (51/178) which, amongst other provisions, set the theme for the Decade (1997-2006) to be "Eradicating poverty is an ethical, social, political and economic imperative of humankind" (para. 3).  This decision followed on the agreement at the Social Summit in Copenhagen in 1995 that the General Assembly, at its fiftieth session, should declare the first United Nations decade for the eradication of poverty.

Poverty eradication has been a major concern in the work of the United Nations since its establishment nearly sixty years ago. The mandate of the United Nations’ work against poverty is embedded in international agreements, declarations and covenants, dating back to the Charter of the United Nations and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The Copenhagen Declaration and Programme of Action provided the substantive framework for the first United Nations Decade for the Eradication of Poverty.

The international community in launching the Decade recognized explicitly the multidimensional characteristics of poverty and set for itself a range of interlocking development goals which, taken together, address the overarching challenge of poverty eradication. These goals include: achieving a substantial reduction of overall poverty and the eradication of extreme poverty by a date set by each country; reductions in infant and child mortality; reductions in maternal mortality and child malnutrition; improvements in life expectancy; and access to basic social services, especially among women. These goals provide a powerful set of objectives for all development partners to marshal resources and eradicate poverty.

Perhaps, the most important challenge facing the international community is to enable the poorest developing countries, especially those in Africa and the least developed countries, to develop capacities, integrate better into the global economy and thereby benefit from the opportunities offered by globalization. Debt relief, additional and well-targeted resources, access to markets, information and technology, as well as better trade opportunities are all crucial to poverty reduction and eradication.

This collective commitment to eradicate poverty is not limited to governmental and intergovernmental institutions. Civil society all over the world is also determined to combat poverty and its root causes. A wide array of national and international organizations, including many non-governmental organizations (NGOs), have put the fight against poverty at the centre of their own strategies and partnerships.

A proper balance between the State and the market is crucial for social progress and development. The State has a key role to play in supporting economic arrangements which encourage human development, stimulate enterprise and saving and create the environment necessary to mobilize domestic resources and to attract foreign investment. Sustainable development to eradicate poverty rests on economic growth that is not only stable and vigorous, but which also embraces people living in poverty and allows them to share the fruits of development. A dynamic private sector requires a government that fosters economic growth and is more responsive to the needs of people living in poverty. In order to benefit and promote the participation of people living in poverty, economic growth must incorporate a sound and open macroeconomic framework, in which resources are used productively and which facilitates the development of income- and employment-generating activities that include poor people, particularly women.

The Millennium Declaration in 2000 introduced time-bound goals which range from halving extreme poverty to putting all children into primary school and stemming the spread of infectious diseases such as HIV/AIDS, all by 2015.   These Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) have become globally accepted benchmarks of broader progress, embraced by donors, developing countries, civil society and major development institutions alike.

The Secretary-General’s report “In Larger Freedom”, drawing upon the Millennium Project Report “Investing in Development”, highlighted national strategies as a priority area for action in 2005 and stressed that: “Each developing country with extreme poverty should by 2006 adopt and begin to implement a national development strategy bold enough to meet the MDG targets for 2015. Each strategy needs to take into account seven broad “clusters” of public investments and policies: gender equality, the environment, rural development, urban development, health systems, education, and science, technology and innovation.”

In discussions of strategies for poverty eradication in many different fora , the access of poor people to finance, particularly microcredit and microfinance has been repeatedly cited as a key instrument for improving the lives of poor people. The International Year of Microcredit, 2005 has served to focus the attention of donors, policy makers, the private sector and microfinance  institutions on the need to overcome the barriers that impede the building of inclusive financial sectors, particularly in developing countries.

Objectives of the Expert Group Meeting and Roundtable

There are two related overall objectives of the expert group meeting and roundtable:

• The first objective is to review progress in the implementation of the first United Nations Decade for the Eradication of Poverty and to arrive at policy recommendations that can assist countries to achieve the Millennium Development Goals, in particular the goal to halve extreme poverty, by 2015. Towards this end, the meeting will present and share regional experiences and lessons learned during the Decade with a view to improving policies to reduce poverty, taking into account the findings and recommendations of the Millennium Project Report “Investing in Development” and the Secretary-General report “In Larger Freedom”. The meeting will also examine the role which the United Nations system, in particular, can play in these processes.

• The second objective is to examine the role and contribution of microcredit and microfinance to poverty eradication and to arrive at policy recommendations that can assist countries to achieve the Millennium Development Goals, in particular the goal to halve extreme poverty, by 2015.  Towards this end, the meeting will present and share regional experiences and lessons learned with a view to improving policies for building inclusive financial sectors and enhancing the poverty reducing impact of such access to financial services by poor people, taking into account the outcome of processes within the context of the International Year of Microcredit, 2005, in particular the Blue Book on building inclusive financial sectors.

Participation in the Meeting

Expert group meeting

It is planned that there will be between 10-15 experts in poverty and poverty reduction strategies drawn from academia, research organizations, United Nations agencies, Governments and  NGOs.

Roundtable

The participants in the roundtable will comprise of the experts from the expert group meeting and additional participants (mostly local participants) drawn from academia, the private sector, Government, United Nations agencies, regional development banks and microfinance and microcredit institutions with particular expertise with microcredit and microfinance. About 50-60 participants will participate in this roundtable.

Papers

Professor Raghav Gaiha
Millennium Development Goal of Halving Poverty in Asia and the
Pacific Region: Progress, Prospects and Priorities

Dr. Mahbubur Rahman
Micro Credit in Poverty Eradication and Achievement of MDGs: Bangladesh Experience

Ms. Hellen Tombo
Youth and MDGs: A Kenyan Experience

Dr. G. Usvatte-aratchi
Against poverty

Mr. John Weiss
Poverty Targeting   [Powerpoint presentation]

Selected publications on the First United Nations Decade for the Eradication of Poverty, the Millennium Development Goals and the Millennium Project

Ad Hoc Working Group for Youth and the MDGs
Youth and the Millennium Development Goals: Challenges and Opportunities for Implementation, Interim Report, November 2004

IFAD
Millennium Development Goal of Halving Poverty in Asia and the Pacific: Progress, Prospects and Priorities, Discussion Paper, Governing Council – Twenty-Eighth Session, Rome, 2005.

United Nations Millennium Project
Investing in Development: A Practical Plan to Achieve the Millennium Development Goals, UNDP, New York, 2005. 

United Nations
In larger freedom: towards development, security and human rights for all, Report of the Secretary-General (A/59/2005).

United Nations
The Millennium Development Goals Report 2005, New York, 2005.

Selected publications on the International Year of Microcredit, 2005 and on microfinance/credit and poverty reduction

John Weiss and Heather Montgomery
Great Expectations: Microfinance and Poverty Reduction in Asia and Latin America, ADB Institute Discussion Paper No. 15, September 2004.

John Weiss, Heather Montgomery and Elvira Kurmanalieva
Micro Finance and Poverty Reduction in Asia: What is the Evidence? ADB Institute Research Paper Series No. 53, December 2003

United Nations
Implementation of the first United Nations Decade for the Eradication of Poverty (1997-2006) and preparations for the International Year of Microcredit, 2005, Report of the Secretary-General (A/59/326).

United Nations
Implementation of the first United Nations Decade for the Eradication of Poverty (1997-2006) and draft programme of action for the International Year of Microcredit, 2005, Report of the Secretary-General (A/58/179)

Experts

Participants for the Roundtable

Prof. Raghav Gaiha, University of Delhi, India

Mr. Mahbubur Rahman, Project Director, Participatory Rural Development Project,   Bangladesh Rural Development Board, Bangladesh

Mr. Robert  Sagun, Institute of Philippine Culture, Ateneo de Manila University

Ms. Dugersuren Sukhjargalmaa, Programme Advisor, Poverty Cluster, UNDP, Cambodia

Ms. Helen Tombo, Executive Director Kenya Youth (KYCEP), Nairobi, Kenya

Prof. Joseph Remenyi, School of International and Political Studies, Faculty of Arts, Deakin University, Geelong, Australia

Dr. Geedreck Uswatte-Aratchi, Vice Chairman, People’s Action for Fair Elections, Colombo, Sri Lanka

Mr. Fodé Ndiaye, Regional Technical Manager, Regional Unit for Southern and Eastern Africa, UNCDF Microfinance

Mr. Uktam Abdurakhmanov, Research Coordinator, Center for Economic Research, Tashkent, Uzbekistan

Mr. Adrian Gauci, Economic and Social Policy Division, UNECA, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Dr. John Weiss, Director of Research, Asian Development Bank Institute, Tokyo, Japan

Ms. Jacqueline Vilayphonh, Microfinance Technical Advisor, Rural Development Project for Phongsaly District (PDDP), Lao PDR

Ms. Elenita V. San Roque, Manager, Member Services, Association of Asian Confederation of Credit Unions, Bangkok, Thailand

Ms. Patareepan Pongwat, Manager, Women and Enterprise Development Department, Credit Union League of Thailand, Bangkok, Thailand

Mr. Supoj Arevast, National Village and Urban Community Fund, Thailand [to be confirmed]

Mr. Ranjith Hettiarachchi, Chief Executive Officer, Association of Asian Confederation of Credit Unions, Bangkok, Thailand 

Ms. Somsook Boonyabancha, Director, Community Organization Development Institute, Bangkok, Thailand [to be confirmed]

Mr. Chamnan Wattanasiri, Chief, International Relations Sub-Division Community Development Department, Ministry of Interior, Bangkok, Thailand

Mr. Chea Phalarin, General Manager, AMRET CO Ltd., Phonm Pehn, Cambodia

Mr. Bun Mony, General Manager Cambodian Entrepreneur Building Ltd (CEB), Phnom Penh, Cambodia

Ms. Pia Bernadette M. Roman, Central Bank of the Philippines (BSP), Microfinance Unit, Manila, Philippines

Mr. Benedicto S. Bayaua, Secretary General, Organization: Asia Pacific Rural and Agricultural Credit Association, Bangkok, Thailand

Mr. Akond Mohammad Rafiqul Islam, Assistant General Manager (Operations) and focal point of the Bangladesh National Committee for observance of the UN International Year of Microcredit 2005

United Nations Secretariat

DESA
Mr. Donald Lee, Ms. Felice Llamas, Ms. Nimali S. Ariyawansa
Mr. Eric L. Demafeliz [volunteer]

ESCAP
Mr. Kim Hak-Su [Executive Secretary], Mr. Shigeru Mochida [Deputy Executive Secretary],
Mr. Raj Kumar [Principal Officer], Mr. Daewon Choi [Special Assistant to the Executive Secretary and the Secretary of the Commission]

Mr. Ravi Ratnayake [Chief, Poverty and Development Division], Mr. Hiren Sarkar [Chief, Development Policy Section], Mr. Kioe Sheng Yap [Chief, Poverty Reduction Section], Ms. Shamika Sirimanne [Chief, Socio-Economic Analysis Section], Mr. Muhammad Malik [Economic Affairs Officer, Development Policy Section], Mr. Amarakoon Bandara [Economic Affairs Officer, Development Policy Section], Ms. Nobuko Kajiura [Economic Affairs Officer, Development Policy Section], Mr. Amitava Mukherjee [Regional Adviser, Poverty and Development Division], Mr Michel Chretien, [Housing Finance Specialist], Ms. Dusdeemala Kanittanon [Administrative Assistant]

Ms. Thelma Kay, Chief, Emerging Social Issues Division

Mr Charles Davies, Programme Management Officer, Programme Management Division

Mr. Peter Van Laere [Chief, Administrative Services Division], Mr. Christian De Sutters [Chief, Conference Services Section, Administrative Services Division], Mr. David Lazarus [Chief, United Nations Information Services]

Links

The International Year of Microcredit

World Bank and Social Capital for Development

Red Social (Network of social funds in Latin America and the Carbbean)