MICROCAPITAL STORY: Bill and Melinda Gates Provide US$700,000 to Microcredit Summit Campaign’s “Movement Above US$1 Per Day Threshold” Project

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has donated USD 700 thousand in the form of a grant to the Microcredit Summit Campaign‘s (MSC) project entitled “Movement Above the US One Dollar Per Day Threshold“. The funds will be used to form expert panels who will develop credible methodologies for determining the number of microfinance clients who have crossed the USD 1 a day threshold between 1990 and the current year. The funds will also be used to research and produce studies based on the recommendations of these panels. A Bangladesh Expert Panel has already convened, an India Expert Panel is currently being formed, and an Ethiopia Expert Panel is being planned for 2009. While this is the first time the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has provided funding to the Microcredit Summit Campaign, it has previously provided funding to the RESULTS Educational Fund, MSC’s founding organization.

The “Movement Above the US One Dollar Per Day Threshold” project was created in 2006 at the Global Microcredit Summit Campaign held in Halifax, Canada. Delegates recognized that there were measurement and statistical obstacles in trying to ensure that 100 million microfinance clients rise about USD 1 per day by 2015, one of the goals of the Microcredit Summit Campaign. As a part of this project, the Microcredit Summit Campaign has partnered with fifteen of the largest microfinance institutions (MFIs) and networks (listed below) worldwide to utilize tools which will measure clients’ economic well-being. One example of this is using “Progress out of Poverty Indices (PPI)”, or poverty scorecards, which were designed by Mark Schreiner for the Grameen Foundation and used with the CGAP/Ford Foundation Social Indicators Project. The results will be reported annually in the organization’s State of the Microcredit Summit Campaign Report, starting in 2010.

Partner MFIs:

Association of the Asian Confederation of Credit Unions (ACCU), Thailand

Association for Social Advancement (ASA), Bangladesh

BRAC, Bangladesh

FINCA International, USA

National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development, (NABARD), India

Opportunity International, USA

SHARE Microfin Ltd., India

Spandana, India

Samurdhi Authority, Sri Lanka

Vietnam Bank for Social Policies, Vietnam

Central People’s Credit Fund, Vietnam

Palli Daridra Bimochon Foundation (PDBF), Bangladesh (Link is to MIX Market profile)

Tamil Nadu Corporation for the Development of Women, India

SIDBI, India

Pakistan Poverty Alleviation Fund (PPAF), Pakistan

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation was founded in 1999 after changing its name from the William H. Gates Foundation which was created in 1994 to address two main initiatives: Global Health and community needs in the Pacific Northwest. The scope of work expanded to include Global Development in 2006. In 2007 the liabilities and assets of the Gates Foundation and the Gates Foundation Trust totalled USD 38.9 billion. MicroCapital has reported on past involvements in microfinance which can be found here and here.

The Microcredit Summit Campaign is a project of the RESULTS Educational Fund, a grassroots advocacy organization committed to ending hunger and poverty. The first Microcredit Summit was held in February, 1997 and launched a nine-year campaign to reach 100 million of the world’s poorest families That goal was nearly reached and in November, 2006 the Campaign was re-launched to 2015 with two new goals, including: working to ensure that 175 million of the world’s poorest families are receiving credit for self-employment by the end of 2015; and working to ensure that 100 million families rise above the USD one a day threshold between 1990 and 2015.

By Lori Curtis, Research Assistant

Additional Resources:

Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation: “Home” “About Us” “2007 Annual Report

Government Technology: “Gates Foundation Provides $700, 000 to Document Success of Microcredit

MicroCapital Story: “The Microcredit Summit Campaign and Microfinance Opportunities Make Commitments at the Clinton Global Initiative

MicroCapital Story: “Gates Foundation Grants 1.7 Million to PlaNet Finance And France Telecom’s Orange for Mobile Banking Microfinance Project

MicroCapital Story: “Gates Foundation Matches Rotary and Caster Foundation to Donate $600,000 to Opportunity International

Microcredit Summit Campaign: “Home” “Movement Above the US One Dollar Per Day Threshold” “About US

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