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Plenary Session: Financing Microfinance for Poverty Reduction

Workshop Session: Transparency on the Depth of Outreach – Indicators for Programs Performance and New Efforts to Cost-Effectively Measure Absolute Poverty

Microcredit Summit Director Honored

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Workshop Session: Transparency on the Depth of Outreach – Indicators for Programs Performance and New Efforts to Cost-Effectively Measure Absolute Poverty

On June 17, 2003 U.S. President George W. Bush signed into law a microenterprise bill that will expand the outreach of microfinance to the very poor. The new law requires that:

• Half of all microenterprise development resources be used to benefit the very poor defined as those starting on less than $1 a day purchasing power parity or in the bottom half below their nation's poverty line
• USAID work with others to develop, by the end of fiscal year 2004, two or more cost-effective poverty measurement tools that measure whether potential clients start below $1 a day or bottom half below their nation's poverty line
• Virtually all programs receiving USAID microenterprise resources begin using one of these tools by the end of fiscal year 2005
• USAID report annually to Congress on the result by the end of 2006

The legislation also authorizes expanding funds for international microenterprise development programs to $175 million in 2003 and $200 million in 2004

Following is an overview of the Microcredit Summit +5 discussion on developing poverty measurement tools, including comments from Kate McKee, Director of Microenterprise Development at USAID. Please click here to continue.