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Then UNDP Administrator Mark Malloch Brown speaks at the Launch of the International Year of Microcredit, November 2004
In celebration of the tremendous achievements of the International Year of Microcredit, the United Nations has invited heads of state, ministers of finance, and high-level representatives from the formal financial sector, the private sector, donors, civil society, academia and the microfinance community to participate in an International Forum on Building Inclusive Financial Sectors at United Nations Headquarters in New York as the final event of the Year. On November 7 and 8, representatives from the more than 100 countries that actively participated in the Year will deliberate on how to increase access to finance, and thereby reduce poverty, around the world.
Following an agenda that has been developed through consultations from around the world, participants will share successes and challenges of the Year and will develop a plan to maintain momentum. Ultimately, the goal of the Forum is to adopt a programme of action to build inclusive financial sectors, bringing the world one step closer to achieving the Millennium Development Goals.
Appearing side by side with microfinance clients from South Africa, Sierra Leone, China and Indonesia will be expert speakers, panelists and moderators. These will include: Her Royal Highness, Princess Maxima of the Netherlands, Mr. Stanley Fischer, Governor, Bank of Israel, and Mr. Charles Konan Banny, Governor, Central Bank of West African States (BCEAO), all Advisors to the Year, as well as Sir Ronald Cohen, Executive Chairman, Apax Partners Worldwide LLP, Sir Nicholas Stern, Director of Policy and Research, Commission for Africa, Mr. Bo Cutter, Managing Director, Warburg Pincus, Ms. Diana Taylor, Banking Superintendent of New York State, Mr. Kemal Dervis, Administrator, United Nations Development Programme, Mr. José Antonio Ocampo, Under-Secretary-General, Department of Social and Economic Affairs, and Mr. Tom Easton, New York Bureau Chief, The Economist.
The substantive work of the Forum will be carried out in nine panels. Each will focus on a different aspect of building inclusive financial sectors, the challenges faced, and the policies and changes that must be implemented for this financial sector revolution to be successful.
The first panel to be held on the morning November 7 will launch the Blue Book, a comprehensive guide to building inclusive financial sectors. An initiative of the Year, the Blue Book project carried out innovative consultations to address the challenges faced in building inclusive financial sectors and recommendations on how to establish full participation in the financial sector throughout the world. The second panel, entitled "Taking Meaningful Steps to Mitigate Financial Sector Crises in Post-Conflict Countries," will discuss various precautions that can be taken to prevent the collapse of financial sectors in politically sensitive environments.
Panel III, which has drawn much attention from various heads of corporations, will focus on the role of the international private sector in revolutionizing the role of microfinance. High-level representatives from technology-based companies will participate in the final panel of the afternoon confronting the challenges faced by informational asymmetries in the financial sector.
Various Ministers of Finance and heads of national banks will participate in a panel on November 8 focusing on the future of access to finance. The next panel has invited members of economic development academia to address the needs of low-income and poor people throughout the world. Africa will serve as the area of focus in Panel VII: "Africa: Growth and Access to Finance-the Final Frontier." High-level officials in the banking industry will address the issue of migration in expanding the financial sector. Heads of state and Ministers of Finance will participate in the final panel of the forum, which will focus on the role of policy development and state involvement in increasing access to financial services.
During the event, promotional materials and items developed by more than 100 countries participating in the International Year of Microcredit initiatives, including the 60 formally established National Committees, will be displayed together with products made by microentrepreneurs from developing countries.
Gala Awards Dinner
A gala and awards dinner called "Celebrating the Unsung Heroes of Poverty Eradication" will highlight the winners of the Global Microentrepreneurship Awards (GMAs) and the National Committee Awards. The GMAs will honor microentrepreneurs from each participating country who satisfied country-specific criteria and demonstrated their ability to utilize microfinance as a tool for establishing sustainable businesses. The Year has inspired the creation of over 60 National Committees dedicated to improving the financial sectors in their respective countries through the promotion of microfinance initiatives. Though the awards differ from country to country, they share the common goals of highlighting microfinance as a means for microentrepreneurs to escape poverty and promoting the creation of inclusive financial sectors throughout the world.
The Forum will conclude with a seminar on regulation and supervision to be held on November 9. Discussions will focus on how to balance supervision and regulation with innovation and flexibility in order to promote the growth of microfinance. The event is hosted by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, and co-sponsored by the New York State Banking Department and the United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF).
For more information, please visit: http://www.yearofmicrocredit.org/pages/getinvolved/getinvolved_forum2005.asp.
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