Passed December 18, 1997
The General Assembly,
Taking note of the report of the Secretary-General on the observance
of the International Year for the Eradication of Poverty (1996) and
recommendations for the rest of the First United Nations Decade for the
Eradication of Poverty (1997-2006),
Recognizing that people living in poverty are innately capable of
working their way out of poverty with dignity, and can demonstrate
creative potentials to improve their situation when an enabling
environment and the right opportunities exist,
Noting that in many countries of the world, microcredit programmes,
by providing access to small capitals to people living in poverty, have
succeeded in generating productive self-employment,
Also noting that microcredit programmes have proved to be an
effective tool in freeing people from the bondage of poverty, and have
led to their increasing participation in the mainstream economic and
political process of society,
Bearing in mind that microcredit programmes have especially
benefitted women and have resulted in the achievement of their
empowerment in a world where more women than men live in absolute
poverty and that the imbalance continues to grow,
Recognizing that microcredit programmes, in addition to their role in
the eradication of poverty, have also been a contributing factor to the
social and human development process,
Noting that the qualitative and quantitative development of
microcredit institutions and their capacity to reach the marginalized
groups requires the provision of an enabling environment, including a
policy framework for the financial sector, as well as linkages to the
formal financial sector,
Bearing in mind the importance of microfinance instruments such as
credit, savings and related business services in providing access to
capital for people living in poverty,
Noting that the provision of finance to microcredit institutions
should be commensurate with their absorptive capacity and that efforts
should be made to strengthen and enhance that capacity,
Also noting the positive references in support of the role of
microcredit contained in the final documents of the Twelfth Ministerial
Conference of the Non-Aligned Movement (New Delhi, 4-8 April 1997), the
Ninth South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation Summit (Male,
12-14 May 1997), the Organization of African Unity Summit (Harare, 2-3
June 1997), the substantive session of 1997 of the Economic and Social
Council (Geneva, 30 June-25 July 1997) and the Commonwealth Heads of
Government Meeting (Edinburgh, 24-27 October 1997) as well as the Group
of Seven statement on economic and financial issues (Denver, Colorado,
21 June 1997),
- Welcomes the launching of different microcredit initiatives in
recent years and acknowledges their important contribution to the
eradication of poverty, empowerment of women and social upliftment;
- Welcomes also the outcome of the Microcredit Summit, held at
Washington, D.C., from 2 to 4 February 1997, which through its
Declaration and Plan of Action, endorsed a global campaign to reach
100 million of the world's poorest families, especially women of
those families, with credit for self-employment and other financial
and business services, by the year 2005;
- Notes with satisfaction that, as called for in Assembly resolution
51/178 of 16 December 1996, many United Nations agencies and the
World Bank actively participated in the Summit and thus contributed
to its successful outcome;
- Takes note of the Declaration and Plan of Action of the
Microcredit Summit, the communique issued by the Council of Heads of
State and Government at the Summit, and messages to the Summit from
the Chairman of the Group of 77 and China and the Secretary-General
of the United Nations;
- Recognizes the important contributions being made by the United
Nations system and by the Consultative Group to Assist the Poorest,
sponsored by the World Bank, to develop and disseminate best
practices among all organizations engaged in the provision of
financial services on a sustainable basis to people living in
poverty;
- Encourages all involved in poverty eradication programmes to
consider incorporating microcredit schemes in their strategies;
- Also encourages them to adopt policies that support the
development of microcredit institutions and their capacities so that
credit and related services may be made available to increasing
numbers of people living in poverty;
- Calls upon the international donor community to support the
strengthening of existing and emerging microcredit institutions in
the developing countries, especially the least developed and the
African countries;
- Also calls upon the relevant organs, organizations and bodies of
the United Nations system, in particular its funds and programmes
and the regional commissions, as well as relevant international and
regional financial institutions and donor agencies involved in the
eradication of poverty, to explore including the microcredit
approach in their programmes as a tool for the eradication of
poverty and further developing, where appropriate, other
microfinance instruments;
- Calls upon all concerned non-governmental organizations, other
actors of civil society and the private sector to support and
incorporate, and appropriate, microcredit and related services in
their programmes for the eradication of poverty.
- Requests the Secretary-General, in collaboration with relevant
organizations of the United Nations system, including funds and
programmes, to submit to it at its fifty-third session a report on
the role of microcredit in the eradication of poverty in follow-up
to resolution 52/194 entitled "First United Nations Decade for
the Eradication of Poverty";
- Decides to include future discussions of the role of microcredit
under the item entitled, "Implementations of the First United
Nations Decade for the Eradication of Poverty (1997-2006)."
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