CANADA CONTRIBUTES TO POVERTY REDUCTION THROUGH MICROCREDIT

News Release

December 10, 2004 Ottawa -- The Honourable Aileen Carroll, Minister of International Cooperation, today announced that Canada, through the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), will contribute over $4 million to support microcredit and microfinance initiatives in developing countries. Minister Carroll made the announcement during the launching ceremony of the State of the Microcredit Campaign Summit Report 2004 in Ottawa. These initiatives reflect Canada's commitment to unleash entrepreneurship in the private sector as a cataylst for development. They also illustrate our commitment to the Millennium Development Goals, one of which is to halve the number of hungry and poor people by 2015. "If we hope to make good on this pledge, we need to provide people with the skills and tools they require to build better lives for themselves," Minister Carroll said. "One of those tools is access to inclusive financial services." Canada has gained a reputation for providing leadership in microenterprise and microfinance development, particularly through credit and savings cooperatives. The initiatives include: $1.2 million over three years to World Relief Canada to assist the poor through provision of microfinance and building the capacity of local microfinance institutions to deliver services on a sustainable basis in Vietnam, Cambodia, Bangladesh, Mozambique and Rwanda. $2.85 million for the establishment of the First Micro finance Bank of Tajikistan managed by the Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development. The Canadian International Development Agency has been supportive of the worldwide Microcredit Summit Campaign by contributing to and participating in every regional and global microcredit summit ever since the original campaign was launched in 1997. Funding for these initiatives was provided for in the March 2004 federal budget and is therefore built into the existing fiscal framework. - 30 - Information: Andrew Graham Director of Communications Office of the Minister of International Cooperation Telephone: (819) 953-6238 Media Relations Office Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) Telephone: (819) 953-6534 E-mail: info@acdi-cida.gc.ca Web site: www.cida.gc.ca (electronic version of document)

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2016-12-15

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CANADA CONTRIBUTES TO POVERTY REDUCTION THROUGH MICROCREDIT

News Release

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