Going micro

-- THE World Bank (WB) has
devised a new strategy to
improve the lot of the "poorest of the poor". Inspired by
the success of the Grameen
Bank in Bangladesh, which
lends small amounts mostly to women - to set up
smallscale businesses, it has pledged to
channelise tiny loans to developing nations through grassroot organisations.
Till now it has succeeded in arranging
around us $200 million for the project.
The amount will be disbursed through
non- governmental organisations over
the next several years.

The donors met in Washington to
formalise the structure of an official
body which will coordinate
the lending and to pour new
resources in to the scheme.
The group has been named
the Consultative Group to'
Assist the Poorest (CGAP) and
includes African and Asian
development banks, Canada,
the European Commission,
France, the Netherlands, a
United Nations fund and the us. "This is the most important event in the world of micro-finance," enthuses Ismail Sergeldin, a
WB vice-president and the chairman of
the CGAP.

An estimated I billion people the
world over are still living in back-breaking poverty and the WB sees micro-lending as an important complement to
health and education projects it funds in
developing countries.