“Over the last 30 years … the practitioners in this room and your colleagues around the world, have turned banking upside down. Your innovations have been transformational. You and your colleagues around the world have made microlending the huge success it has been over the years and for that, I thank you.
More than 2,900 of us from 137 countries gathered at the original Microcredit Summit in 1997. At the Summit we launched a nine-year campaign to reach 100 million of the world’s poorest families, especially the women, with credit for self-employment and other financial services by the end of 2005. Sustainable microfinance for the very poor, while not a panacea, was still the most powerful tool we have to provide a dignified route out of poverty for hundreds of millions of those living below US$1 a day.
That is why more than 600 delegates from more than 55 countries are gathered here in Amman for the Middle East/Africa Region Microcredit Summit Meeting of Councils. I want to extend two special welcomes. One is to The Africa Microfinance Network (AFMIN) and the 19 African umbrella organizations [that] make up AFMIN. The other is the SANABEL Network and its members from the Middle East and North Africa.
The Campaign’s latest report outlines end of 2002 data. More than 2,500 microfinance institutions reached more than 67 million clients, 42 million of whom were among the poorest when they received their first micro-loan. These 42 million poorest are part of the growing number of clients we are tracking toward the Summit’s goal of reaching 100 million poorest. Of the 42 million poorest, 79 percent are women. Our next report, with end of 2003 data will come out in mid-December.
From the very first Microcredit Summit we have been guided by four core themes: 1) reaching the poorest, 2) reaching and empowering women, 3) building financially self-sufficient institutions, and 4) ensuring a positive measurable impact on the lives of clients and their families.
We have been hindered by three particularly insidious myths. These myths argue, incorrectly, that you can’t reach the very poor with microcredit because they are too costly to identify and motivate. They argue, incorrectly, that if you do reach the very poor, you can’t build a financially self-sufficient institution. And they argue, incorrectly, that if you do reach the very poor sustainably, you are only adding a debt burden to very poor families. Some of the institutions in this room and colleagues around the world are proving every day that these myths are nonsense.
You have turned banking upside down. Now we must turn international development upside down. The commitment to make sure that the very poor are not left out is not a challenge for microcredit alone. It is a challenge for health, it is a challenge for education and it is a challenge for other areas of development. We have much to learn, and much to teach others. Your innovations have changed lives. And additional innovations will change millions more lives for the better.
This is an excerpt of the speech by Sam Daley-Harris, Director, Microcredit Summit Campaign 
