Author(s):
Sam Daley-Harris

"In 2007, more than 100 million of the world’s poorest families received a microloan. While more than 100 million people received a microloan in 2005, it was not until 2007 that the 100 million poorest marker was reached. This groundbreaking achievement was the attainment of a goal set by more than 2,900 delegates from 137 countries at the first Microcredit Summit in Washington, DC in 1997. At that Summit, delegates made a commitment to reach 100 million of the world’s poorest families, especially the women of those families, with credit for self-employment and other financial and business services by the end of 2005. Achievement of this goal touches the lives of an estimated half a billion family members." -From Introduction, State of the Microcredit Summit Campaign Report 2009