A unanimously supported private members motion that calls for increased Canadian investment in microcredit could greatly benefit some of the world’s poorest people, said grassroots advocacy organization RESULTS Canada.
“This is a day to celebrate the commitment of parliamentarians from all political parties who have united in support of the world’s poor,” said RESULTS Executive Director Christina Dendys. ”MP John McCallum’s Private Members’ motion has the potential to provide a ladder out of poverty for hundreds of thousands of the 1.4 billion who live on less than $1.25 a day.”
Mr. McCallum’s motion calls on the government to provide additional funding to microfinance institutions that target the very poor in least developed countries. Micro-credit provides small no-collateral loans to help people living in poverty start or expand a range of small businesses. Currently, CIDA invests roughly $40 million annually in microfinance, less than one penny for every dollar that the agency spends.
In April, Mr. McCallum attended the African Regional Microcredit Summit in Nairobi with RESULTS Canada. Only one in five Africans have access to basic financial services. While at the Summit, Mr. McCallum learned about the impact of microcredit firsthand, travelling into the slums to meet with former beggars who are now entrepreneurs and pillars of their community and also meeting with global leaders like microcredit pioneer and Nobel Prize Winner Mohammad Yunus.
“More than 100 million families world-wide are benefiting from access to microloans. They are an irrefutable chorus telling us that there is demand and need for microcredit for the very poor,” said Ms. Dendys.
“This motion paves the way for Canadian leadership that could ensure more of the world’s 1.4 billion very poor have access to a better life for themselves and their children.”
