ECONOMIC COMMITTEE TAKES UP ISSUE OF POVERTY ERADICATION; CHINA URGES ROLE FOR THOSE AFFECTED IN FRAMING PROGRAMMES CORRECTION
Press Release
GA/EF/2843/
ECONOMIC COMMITTEE TAKES UP ISSUE OF POVERTY ERADICATION; CHINA URGES ROLE FOR THOSE AFFECTED IN FRAMING PROGRAMMES CORRECTION
19981103Following is the statement by the Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs which was inadvertently omitted from Press Release GA/EF/2843 issued yesterday:
NITIN DESAI, Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs, opening discussion on implementation of the United Nations Decade for the Eradication of Poverty (1997-2006), said he wished to focus on the Secretary-General's report on the role of microcredit in the eradication of poverty.
He said he was introducing the report, partly at least, to correct certain distorted reports which had become widely known. The Secretary-General's report was written essentially as an evaluation of experiences, and was not a document which advocated one policy. It was basically a report on the activities of the United Nations in that area and their strengths and weaknesses. As indicated in the executive summary, the report contained suggestions for strengthening operations. It had also contained a particular plea for ensuring that microcredit projects were established in a broader context of support to the small enterprise sector.
Continuing, he said he wished to clarify that the United Nations had made a policy statement on the importance of microcredit and that was the policy which had guided its work, particularly at the field level. The message Secretary-General Kofi Annan had delivered at the 1997 Microcredit Summit had contained that statement of policy. To illustrate the point that the United Nations system was fully committed to the role that microcredit could and should play in the eradication of poverty, he quoted the Secretary-General as saying that "microcredit is a critical anti-poverty tool, a wise investment in human capital". Although there were strengths and weaknesses in the microcredit system, the United Nations was fully committed to
supporting, advancing and strengthening the microcredit policy, as the Organization saw it as a crucial and vital intervention in the great objective of the eradication of absolute poverty.
Reviewing aspects of microcredit, he said central to its effectiveness in poverty eradication was the fact that such credit could be advanced without any collateral. It, thus, became a vital instrument in providing credit to people who were low in the poverty spectrum. He noted that microcredit was more effective alongside other investments such as those to expand basic social services and infrastructure.
Much more needed to be done in the area of microcredit, he continued. The report before the Committee on the work of the international community in that area made clear that the scale of support for microcredit was well short of the potential for absorbing microcredit and well short of the number of people in developing countries willing to put those credits to good use. Referring to a report commissioned by the Department of Economic and Social Affairs to help guide future operational activities -- "Poverty Reduction Strategies: A Review" -- once again, he said, the report made very clear the commitment to microcredit as an important initiative.
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