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UNITED NATIONS CAPITAL DEVELOPMENT FUND Microfinance |
Issue 5 / September - October 2004 |
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News | The Central American Microfinance Network Charts the Path Forward Drafts Declaration on Financial Sectors that Better Reflect the Needs of the Population On June 30th, the Central American Microfinance Network held its second annual conference in San Salvador, El Salvador. The three-day event included over 30 panelists from 23 international organizations including REDCAMIF, ACCION International, CGAP, the InterAmerican Development Bank, USAID, as well as several universities, small enterprises, and consultancies. Through a series of seminars, debates, and panel discussions, this diverse group focused on meeting several immediate goals such as: the fortification of regional bonds, sharing of better financial practice information, developing new financial products, and the creating effective legislative frameworks for microfinance development. REDCAMIF (Red Centroamericana de Microfinanzas) hosted and organized this annual conference and is a veteran in establishing microfinance institutions in much of Central America. It consists of five Central American Networks, including REDIMIF of Guatemala, ASOMI of El Salvador, Red Covelo of Honduras, ASOMIF of Nicaragua, and REDCOM of Costa Rica. Though REDCAMIF only recently launched its constitution in 2002, it serves over 500,000 clients of which 61.6% are women. REDCAMIF directed the conference towards the goals of promoting and fortifying the microfinance sector through the exchange of organizational and market experiences. “The conference was focused attention on microfinance and enhanced the interest of national authorities and representatives of financial institutions”, said Reynold Osbert Walter Padilla, President of REDCAMIF and principal moderator and organizer of the event. The conference also established a range of goals and strategies to address rural microcredit, an issue that has come under focus in the last few years. Panelists discussed strategies for the future including: diversification of rural accounts, adopting lower interest rates for agricultural producers, and the use of agencies in reducing transaction costs. With this in mind, the organizers hope that next year’s conference will attract 800 representatives from around the world. At the end of the three-day event, Padilla and the other panelists compiled their objectives and principles into a unifying document, known as the Declaration of San Salvador, a manifesto that resonated with the fundamental priorities and development goals of the committees. The Declaration acknowledges that most conventional banks are focused on medium and large businesses and offer inadequate products and services for small and micro businesses. Seeking to change this, the delegates state their commitment to expand financial services to a greater portion of the population with products that suit the needs of low-income people. The Declaration also conveys the organizations' desire to be an integral part of the formation of public policies and regulatory frameworks that effect their operations. Thus an overarching goal is to have "their role be recognized in national financial systems". REDCAMIF aims to reach more
than 700,000 families by 2006 to increase employment levels and help them to
improve their lives. The timing of this goal would come just before the third
Central American Microfinance Conference in Honduras. For more information visit
Redcamif.
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