| | BSE Heralds UN Year of Micro Credit 2005 Citigroup, NABARD & PlanetFinance join the group effort Women micro entrepreneurs from Mumbai NGO to ring inaugural bell Mumbai … November 18, 2004… The sounds of the bell symbolized the launch of the United Nations (UN) Year of Microcredit 2005. A six-member women micro entrepreneur group from Society for Promotion of Area Resource Centre (SPARC), a Mumbai based non-governmental organization, rang the opening bell at BSE - The Stock Exchange, Mumbai's Dinshaw Petit Convention Center, to usher in the UN Year of Micro Credit Year.
BSE has organized this unique event, which is part of a simultaneous global launch of the Year of Microcredit 2005. Micro entrepreneurs will ring the opening bell in different bourses across the globe to launch the Year. Joining BSE in this initiative are Citigroup India; National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) and PlanetFinance.
Since 1959, the United Nations has designated International Years in order to draw attention to major issues and to encourage international action to address concerns that have global importance and ramifications. The UN General Assembly has designated the year 2005 as the Year of Microcredit. This will be an important opportunity to give impetus to microfinance programmes throughout the world and the UN has invited governments, the United Nations system, concerned non-government organizations and others from civil society, private sector and media to join in raising the profile and building the capacity of the microfinance sector
A team of alumni and students of Harvard and other business schools are working with the UN to coordinate the event with stock exchanges worldwide. This Stock Exchange coordination is an official UN activity for the Year.
BSE is chosen as the stock exchange for celebration of this event in India. The reason of choosing the Stock Exchange for heralding the launch of the programme is (a) to illustrate the importance of liberalizing financial systems to the rich and the poor alike (b) to symbolize micro entrepreneurs as dynamic economic contributors; and (c) because BSE's participation will inspire exchanges around the world to follow suit.
SPARC, the NGO which had its women members ring the bell at BSE, has done outstanding work with the urban poor, especially women and pavement dwellers in the area of housing and enterprise development through savings and credit groups.
Sounding the Bell on this occasion Mr. Rajnikant Patel, Executive Director & CEO, BSE, said: "Let the year 2005 herald the latent strength and spread of Micro-Credit. This UN initiative will provide the entrepreneurs and the financers the platform and all others the fillip to extend the benefits to the society at large. Moreover, the selection of BSE is also a fitting recognition of the fact that BSE has served the interests of small investors as well." Sanjay Nayar, CEO Citigroup India said: "It is indeed appropriate for a very important sector like microcredit to get global attention in 2005. Microcredit today forms an integral part of most developing economies adding not only to growth but also the entrepreneurial spirit. At Citigroup we embrace support of microfinance for a whole range of reasons, not least because it fits our corporate philosophy of helping people help themselves but because microfinance is of proven value in the global fight against poverty."
Added Haresh Shah, Trustee, PlaNet Finance: "…while it seems that we have the means to the solution at hand, the magnitude and complexity of poverty the world over requires us to join hands and collectively conceive and implement a poverty alleviation agenda. Agreed that huge resources and patience would be required to pursue this course, it should not stop us from planning for absolute eradication of poverty with a clear deadline. The United Nations declaration of 2005 provides us a global platform to learn more about microfinance and decide how each of us will contribute to its development and the eradication of poverty."
MICROCREDIT - A BACKGROUND :
Access to credit and other financial services, plays an important role in the fruition of collective and personal ambitions for all. While successfully developing extensive mechanisms to provide for those who are informed and capable of offering collateral; the poor and excluded masses whose numbers grow with every industrial boom, are often ignored. Poverty is often hastily considered as a by-product of the rapid development and offer charity as a solution which while it helps creates dependence on its continued availability and largely undermines the entrepreneurial spirit of the poor.
Micro-Credit is a simple but powerful poverty alleviating tool that can actually rebuild the lives of millions of people living below the poverty line. Micro-Credit drapes the under- privileged with dignity, grace and respect by making people the asset. By empowering women and throwing open the doors to micro-enterprise, micro-finance has paved the way for emergence of a parallel economy…..and the day is nor far off when each and everyone could boast of food, clothing and shelter and enterprise.
| For more details, kindly contact : | | Kalyan S. Bose | | Head - Corporate Communications BSE | | # 2272 2938 / 98 203 21121 | Corp.comm@bseindia.com |
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