Microcredit Summit The Campaign Progress Report

A report by the Microcredit Summit Campaign surveying 1,567 microcredit institutions worldwide has found that as of December 31,2000, these programs had reached 19.3 million of the world's poorest families with credit for self-employment and other financial and business services. This represents an increase of 40 percent from the previous year, with an additional 5.5 million of the world's poorest families receiving microcredit. The report was released at the Regional Microcredit Summit meeting last October, in Puebla, Mexico.

Microloans, sometimes as small as $25, are unlike other anti-poverty initiatives. Increasingly, microlending institutions seek the poorest families through various targeting tools and ignore traditional barriers to lending such as lack of collateral and illiteracy. Programs focus heavily on women, clients are encouraged to start small savings accounts, and loans are often given to clients who have formed groups to ensure high repayment success.

"We have seen a growth of 37 percent a year in families reached, since our initial reporting at the end of 1997", said Microcredit Summit Campaign Director Sam Daley-Harris. "That is just below the 38 percent growth rate required to meet our goal of reaching 100 million poorest families by 2005". The19.3 million poorest clients currently reached represent two-third of the 30.7 million total clients reported by microcredit institutions worldwide.

The report reiterates the difficulty microcredit institutions face in accurately assessing the poverty level of entering clients. Last year, the Campaign has co-organized regional meetings in Africa, Asia, and Latin America that focused on this challenge and in the last eight months, Campaign staff in Asia and Africa have led classroom sessions on cost-effective poverty targeting tools for more than 1,000 micro-credit practitioners.

	The Progress So Far !
	At the end of 2000, 1,567 microcredit institutions reported reaching more than 30.6 million clients of whom more than 19.3 million were among the poorest when they took their first loan. According to the reports, 827 institutions submitted a 2001 Institutional Action Plan outlining their progress within the four core themes determined by the Microcredit Summit. Assuming five persons family, the 19.3 million poorest clients reached by the end of 2000 affected more than 95 million family members. In order to reach 100 million poorest by 2005, the Campaign will need to have a 38% growth rate per year from its starting point of 7.6 million poorest families at the end of 1997. The growth from 13.8 million poorest clients at the end of 1999 to 19.3 million poorest clients at the end of 2000, represents a 40 percent growth over last year. Currently the growth rate averages just under 37 percent a year, one percentage point below the rate required. This year, the Campaign was able to verify data from 138 institutions, representing 12,752,645 poorest families or 66 percent of the total poorest reported. This is a 76 percent increase in the number of institutions verified last year. Region Number of Programs Reporting Number of Clients reported in 1999 Number of Clients reported in 2000 Number of Poorest Clients reported in 1999 Number of Poorest Clients reported in 2000 Number of Poorest Women Clients reported in 1999 Number of Poorest Women Clients reported in 2000 Africa 613 3,833,565 5,180,881 2,617,861 3,784,026 1,526,267 2,449,756 Asia 647 18,427,125 23,576,938 10,498,656 14,674,277 8,316,313 11,141,678 Latin America & Caribbean 193 1,109,708 1,672,541 452,436 745,676 290,364 516,844 Middle East 17 46,925 54,272 28,807 27,438 15,680 10,012 Developing World Totals 1,470 23,417,323 30,484,632 13,597,760 19,231,417 10,148,624 14,118,290 North America 53 43,750 111,204 18,519 58,809 13,022 24,281 Europe & NIS 44 94,616 85,271 84,801 37,225 47,365 10,343 Industrialized World Totals 97 138,366 196,475 103,320 96,034 60,387 34,624 Global Totals 1,567 23,555,689 30,681,107 13,701,080 19,327,451 10,209,011 14,152,914 It should be noted that these numbers bear some relationship to the numbers of absolute poor (i.e. those living under one dollar a day) in each region.

In 1995, at the United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing, members of a microcredit panel saw the need for systematic reporting on microcredit and advocating for its expansion globally. With this in mind, the Microcredit Summit Campaign was officially launched in February, 1997, with the goal of reaching l00 million of the world's poorest families, especially the women of these families, with credit for self-employment and other financial and business services by 2005. Beyond this goal, the Microcredit Summit developed four core themes: reaching the poorest; reaching and empowering women; building financially self-sufficient institutions; and ensuring a positive measurable impact on the lives of clients and their families.

The 19.3 million poorest families currently being reached represent some 95 million family members, families like that of Ana Ruiz of Nicaragua. Ana Ruiz took a loan from an Opportunity International affiliate and began buying corn for making and selling tortillas in bulk. The loan enabled her to pay wholesale instead of retail prices for corn for the first time in her life, and she could finally make a profit from her labour. This loan and a subsequent larger loan allowed Ana to increase profits from her tortilla stand and make vital improvements in the life of her family. Before taking the loan, Ana had no furniture -just the table where she works. Now, she has eight plastic chairs, and her children no longer have to sit on the dirt floor. In addition, Ana' s children had never owned a pair of shoes or attended school. Now, both are possible. Previously malnourished and listless, Ana's children are healthier than ever. "The little ones run around now," she says. "They go to sleep early because they are tired from playing, not because they are weak."