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AFRICA ADVOCACY FORUM II:
MICROCREDIT
- A SOLUTION FOR AFRICA?
A
ONE -DAY BRIEFING
THURSDAY,
14 NOVEMBER 2002
10:00
a.m to 2:00 p.m
United
Nations - Conference Room 2
Background
The
first Microcredit Summit took place in Washington D.C. on
2-4 February 1997. On the United Nations' front, it
led to General Assembly resolution 52/194 of 18 December 1997
entitled Role of Microcredit in the Eradication of Poverty,
and the ECOSOC resolution 1998/28 declaring 2005 as the International
Year of Microcredit.
In
order to better understand how Microcredit can be utilized
as an essential instrument for poverty eradication in Africa,
a collaborative effort, in the form of a forum entitled Africa
Advocacy Forum: Microcredit and Poverty Eradication, took
place at the United Nations Headquarters immediately after
the first Summit on 6 February 1997. It was initiated
by the Office of the Special Coordinator for Africa and the
Least Developed Countries (OSCAL) and co-organized by sixteen
organizations of the United Nations system and representatives
of the civil society.
One
of the most important recommendations of the first forum was
the need to strengthen local, African microcredit institutions
and to build on a wide range of complementary support including
rural infrastructure to empower local efforts.
The
Second Microcredit Summit will take place in New York on 10-13
November 2002. OSCAL would like to create another opportunity
to concentrate on Africa. The Forum will therefore register
the report of the second Summit as it particularly relates
to Africa. It will review the results of the last five years
in relation to poverty eradication in Africa with a forward
looking approach in relation to the International Year of
Microcredit (2005). It will place this analysis within the
context of the global political economy, experiences from
other regions such as Japan, and the emergence of the New
Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD).
Africa
Advocacy Forum II will be held at the United Nations Headquarters
immediately after the second Microcredit Summit on 14 November
2002. It is co-organized by UN-OSCAL, the Division for
ECOSOC Support and Coordination, the Office of the High Representative
for the Least Developed Countries, the Landlocked Developing
Countries and Small Island Developing States (OHRLLS), and
the Graduate Center of the City University of New York.
PROGRAMME
Co-Chairs:
Mr. Anwarul K. Chowdhury, USG, OHRLLS
H.E.
Matia Mulumba Semakula Kiwanuka, Uganda
Session
One:
FACTS
10:00
a.m.
10:05 a.m.
10:15 a.m.
10:25 a.m.
10:40 a.m.
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Welcoming
address, Ms Yvette Stevens, Special Coordinator for Africa
(OSCAL)
Inaugural statement:
United Nations activities since the last Microcredit Summit
Mr. Anwarul K. Chowdhury, USG, OHRLLS
Inaugural statement:
Microcredit and Poverty Eradication: Mixed results in
Uganda
H.E. Matia M.Semakula Kiwanuka, Permanent Representative
of Uganda to the UN
Report on the Second Microcredit Summit: Africa Focus
Mr. Sam Daley-Harris, Executive Director of the Microcredit
Summit Organization.
Discussion |
Session Two
EFFORTS
11:00
a.m.
11:10 a.m
11:20 a.m.
11: 30 a.m.
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Mobilization
of resources for poverty eradication: Main Pillars of
the OSCAL Microfinance Model and paragraph 148 of NEPAD
Ms. Ruth Bamela Engo, Senior Economic Affairs Officer,
OSCAL/DESA
Strengthening
local business: Credit and Capital needed for small entrepreneurs.
Ms. Esther Agbodo Nyamalor, President of Women Entrepreneurs
Guarantee Fund Ltd. (WEGFL), Ghana.
Microfinance, Agricultural Output and food security
Mr. Edem Y. Tsogbe, Ph.D, Lecturer, Howard University,
Department of Economics
Discussion |
Session
Three
THE WAY FORWARD
11:45
a.m.
12:00 p.m.
12:10 p.m.
12: 20 p.m.
12:35 p.m.
2:00 p.m.
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Learning
from others: How microfinance institutions and entrepreneurs
helped to build the economy of Japan in the 1950s
Dr. Tomohisa Hattori, Professor of Political Science,
Lehman College, the City University of New York
Donor countries’ perspectives
Ms. Eeva-Liisa Myllymaki, Minister Counselor of the Permanent
Mission of Finland to the United Nations
(Japan, tentative)
ECOSOC resolution 1998/28: Scaling up with information
and communication technologies – Africa Focus
Mr. Sarbuland Khan, Director, Division for ECOSOC Support
and Coordination
DISCUSSANT
Microcredit as a Tool for Poverty Eradication: An overview
of the African position in the global political economy
Dr. Ofuatey-Kodjoe, Professor of Political Science, Graduate
Center of the City University of New York
General discussion and recommendations
Closing of the Forum |
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