The Microcredit Summit Campaign
Summits and Conferences

History of the Summit

Purpose

The purpose of the Regional and Global Microcredit Summits organized by the Microcredit Summit Campaign is to encourage practitioners and other stakeholders to use microfinance as a means towards ending global poverty, especially within the region, as well as to spur progress towards fulfilling the Campaign's two goals for 2015:

  1. Working to ensure that 175 million of the world's poorest families, especially the women of those families, are receiving credit for self-employment and other financial and business services.  
  2. Working to ensure that 100 million of the world's poorest families move above the US$1.25 a day poverty threshold, adjusted for purchasing power parity (PPP), between 1990 and 2015.  

(With an average of five in a family, these two initiatives would affect 875 million family members and 500 million people would have risen above $1 a day nearly completing the Millennium Development Goal on halving absolute poverty.)

Background

In February 1997, RESULTS Educational Fund (REF) convened the first Microcredit Summit, launching a nine-year Campaign 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. This historic event, held in Washington, DC, brought together over 2,900 delegates from 137 countries.

Building on the achievements of the 1997 Summit, a series of Global and Regional meetings have since been successfully held. They have attracted more than 15,000 delegates from over 140 countries. From 1997 to the present, the Microcredit Summit Campaign has relentlessly pursued its goals, maintaining a steadfast commitment to the Summit's four core themes: 1) reaching the poorest, 2) reaching and empowering women, 3) building financially self-sufficient institutions, and 4) ensuring a positive, measurable impact on the lives of the clients and their families. The Microcredit Summit Campaign is a global effort to restore control to people over their own lives and destinies.

Since 1997, the Microcredit Summit Campaign has been leading, supporting, and guiding the microfinance field to address failures in reaching the very poor. The success of the first phase of the Campaign, during which those with microloans grew from reaching 7.6 million of the world's poorest families in 1997 to more than 100 million in 2007, fueled the decision to extend the Campaign. The Campaign's goals for 2015 (see above) were launched at the 2006 Global Microcredit Summit in Halifax, Canada.

The Microcredit Summit Campaign is the only global network linking all actors in the microfinance sector that sets and regularly measures progress toward bold goals for using microfinance to end poverty. It announces progress towards these goals through the publication of the State of the Microcredit Summit Campaign Report.

 

Why you should attend the Global and Regional Microcredit Summits

Great Networking Opportunities. The Microcredit Summit Campaign's conferences are the largest microfinance gatherings in the world, which assemble a full range of those active in the field of microfinance including practitioners, advocates, investors, UN agencies, donors, domestic government agencies, and many more.

Exciting Opening Ceremony Speakers. Along with Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Muhammad Yunus, the Microcredit Summit Campaign anticipates the participation of Heads of State, high-level government officials and other VIPs at its Opening Ceremony and throughout the conference.

Contemporary Global Issues in Africa and the Middle East. Discussion of major topics in the international microfinance field and those specific to the region will be offered at each Global Regional Microcredit Summit.

In-depth Plenary Sessions. Plenary sessions will discuss the hot topics of the day featuring leaders in the field.

Broad Range of Workshop Sessions. At least twenty workshops covering a variety of topics will be presented by specialists in their field.

Interactive Day-Long Courses. Five intensive day-long courses would be one option for delegates on the fourth day of the Summit.

Field Visits. Field visits to the host country's most dynamic microfinance institutions will be offered during the Summit.

Opportunity to Present Work. Delegates may apply to host an Associated Session on a topic of their choice or to organize a booth in the exhibition hall.