2009 Latin America - Caribbean Microcredit Regional Summit
More than 850 delegates from 35 countries attended the Latin America/Caribbean Regional Microcredit Summit in Cartagena, Colombia earlier this month. One of the elements that made this Summit a watershed moment for the field was the inclusion, for the first time ever, of the plenary titled: Breaking the Rules of Microfinance to Better End Poverty: Innovations from Around the World. More than 60 percent of those responding said that the session was excellent.
We have tallied the evaluation forms on the following scale (4 excellent; 3 good; 2 average; and 1 poor). The average tally for the plenary sessions was 3.2 and the average for the workshops was 3.0. Here are a few of the comments from the delegates:
- "It still amazes me how you manage to put on these conferences, one after another, in so many parts of the world, and every one of them seems better than the last!"
- "Absolutely motivating and inspiring! Congratulations!"
- "The quality of the panelists was extraordinary."
We were honored to have the President of Colombia, Álvaro Uribe, open the Summit and to have the participation of the former President of Peru, Alejandro Toledo, the First Lady of the Dominican Republic, Dr. Margarita Cedeño de Fernández, and Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Muhammad Yunus.
The hard work of practitioners and individuals like yourselves is conveyed in the explosive growth and importance of the movement. Our continued collaboration has the potential to provide all people with the financial services necessary to find a dignified route out of poverty. We look forward to working together as we strive to reach the goals of our individual institutions, of the Microcredit Summit Campaign, and in doing so, end global poverty.
Please CLICK HERE to access the audio recordings and presentations from the Summit's workshops. Please also visit an informative blog and some short interviews done by Lisa Laegreid of QED. CLICK HERE for Lisa's blog.
LACRMS Cosponsor: Banca de las Opportunidades
Banca de las Oportunidades is an investment program administered by the Banco de Comercio Exterior de Colombia, Bancoldex, S.A. Its objective is to promote the access to credit and financial services to families with limited income, micro, small and medium enterprises and entrepreneurs. The network of Banca de las Oportunidades is formed by banks, commercial finance businesses, cooperatives, NGO’s, and Family Benefit Funds, who extend financial services to the underserved.
