MICROFINANCE EVENT: The Microcredit Summit Campaign Hosts a Series of Events in the United States with Muhammad Yunus and Ingrid Munro

A CONVERSATION WITH PROFESSOR MUHAMMAD YUNUS

JANUARY 26, 2009, 383 MADISON AVENUE, NEW YORK CITY

J.P. Morgan will host a Microcredit Summit Campaign event with Muhammad Yunus, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate and founder of the Grameen Bank in Bangladesh, January 26 in New York City. Also in attendance will be Ingrid Munro, Founder of Kenyan microfinance organization Jamii Bora. The invitation for the event says that “Sam Daley-Harris, Founder and Director of the Microcredit Summit Campaign, and Professor Yunus will make an exciting announcement about the Campaign’s goals.” The announcement will pertain to the Campaign’s original goal of reaching 100 million of the world’s poorest families with credit. It will be accompanied by a conversation on the future of microfinance. Also on January 26, the State of the Microcredit Summit Campaign Report 2009 will be released, and will be available on the Campaign website.

The event begins at 11:00 AM. The conference is open to the first 400 registered individuals, and the RSVP date has been extended. To register, call the Microcredit Summit Secretariat at 202-637-9600 or email to Kathryn Gelder at gelder@microcreditsummit.org or info@microcreditsummit.org. The entrance to the event is on 47^th Street or Madison Avenue, and the auditorium is on the second floor.

Then on the evening of January 26, the Microcredit Summit Campaign is hosting a cocktail reception that will be limited to 40 people in a private residence on Central Park West. The fundraising event will begin at 5:00 PM and Mr Yunus will be in attendance until 6:00 PM. Tickets cost USD 500 a person or more and all proceeds will go towards the Microcredit Summit Campaign. To RSVP, email Director of Development, Kate McElligott at mcelligott@microcreditsummit.org by Wednesday, January 21.

Finally on the evening of Tuesday, January 27, the Microcredit Summit Campaign is hosting a cocktail reception in Washing DC, with guest speaker, Ingrid Munro, founder of Kenyan microfinance institution (MFI) Jamii Bora. Tickets for the fundraiser are USD 150 per person or more, and proceeds will go towards the Microcredit Summit Campaign. For more information and to RSVP, email Katy McElligott at mcelligott@microcreditsummit.org.

Ingrid Munro established charitable MFI Jamii Bora in Nairobi, Kenya in 1999 with originally 50 street beggar families. Its website states that it is the fastest growing MFI in Kenya in terms of growth of membership. Currently it has approximately 200 thousand members and its staff is made up solely of former clients. In December 2007, its gross loan portfolio was USD 6.1 million. Jamii Bora offers health insurance, savings products, and micro loans to low-income members for self-employment, school fees, health, and housing. The micro loan amounts are as low as USD 1.25 and as high as USD 750, with an average of USD 90. Successful members can borrower up to USD 8766 with a business loan. Jamii Bora has also initiated construction of a new town in Kenya for low-income families that consists of 2000 houses and 3000 work spaces. Jamii Bora does not report to the Mix Market, the information clearing house for microfinance, and its website does not provide any further up-to-date financial information on the organization.

The Microcredit Summit Campaign was launched in 1997, and is made up of microcredit practitioners, advocates, educational institutions, donor agencies, international financial institutions, non-governmental organizations, etc. It has two goals: one, “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 by the end of 2015”; and two, “Working to ensure that 100 million families rise above the USD 1 a day threshold adjusted for purchasing power parity (PPP), between 1990 and 2015.”

By Ryan Hogarth, Research Assistant

Additional Resources:

Grameen Bank: Home

Jamii Bora, Home

Microcredit Summit Campaign: Home

Microfinance Club of New York (MCNY): Event Flier

MCNY: Invitation to a Conversation with Professor Yunus

Unitus: Unitus 2007 Annual Report