March 2005 Edition
FOCUS
This issue’s focus will be on Microcredit, a community-based approach to the alleviation of economic inequality which allows those who would not otherwise have access to small loans and other financial services to develop sustainable livelihoods. 2005 is the International Year of Microcredit, in which the progress that has been made by both individuals and communities through use of microcredit is acknowledged. Microfinance is a participatory approach to development which allows people to take control of their lives and become self-sufficient through access to short-term financial assistance. For small scale producers and those who are self-employed, microcredit allows individuals to greatly increase their own earning capacity. As this initiative is relevant to many Action Partner projects, we are providing as much information as possible to keep you updated on the possibilities that Microcredit systems offer.
Next month’s focus will be on sustainable development and environmental issues. Voice will look in part at the effects of climate change. In the future, climate shifts could disrupt farming and wipe out thousands of species of animals and plants. Some attention has been focused upon climate change issues due to the Kyoto protocol coming into force on February 16. As this issue is one which has an impact upon us all, we would like to hear both from Action Partners whose projects focus upon environmental issues and from Action Partners who have felt the effects of global warming.
See April’s Voice to read more about the great work of OIYP Action Partners in this area!
We hope you enjoy this issue.
The OIYP Voice Team
Editor: Catherine Loy
ACTION PARTNER NEWS
Nour Mosawy
OIYP 2004 Action Partner, Iraq.
I have been facing lots of changes in our conditions here, every day is a different day in predictions, hopes and futures from the day before! Every day is different with its fears, hopes, dreams and prayers from yesterday.
My action plan is now more directed towards youth empowerment of medical students, mostly to obtain the goals needed in health development. Water treatment requires lots of money to be spent, with no guarantees for sustainability as the situation is not yet settled and we don't know where bombs will be!!!!
I would like to send medical students to medical conferences to get to participate and learn about the methods of achieving health projects, especially directed towards the Millenium Development Goals, as water improvement is one of these goals.
Best regards and wishes to everyone!!!
Editor’s Note: To network with Nour regarding medical opportunities and conferences, email: ntb2008@yahoo.co.uk
Duncan Khothatso Moeketse
OIYP 2004 Action Partner, South Africa.
"Project Y2Y: Young South Africans turning tides against HIV/AIDS", supported by Oxfam International youth Parliament, has had an overwhelming response from young people living with HIV/AIDS. About 11 infected young people joined the project working team to co-ordinate events and to come out publicly.
These young men and women are determined to work hard and to save lives of those who are still negative. They need your support to enhance their participation. Please come up with any suggestion on how we can involve them even more to help the world and to work together towards the solution of HIV/AIDS.
Please do get in touch with us on: +27 (0) 825035595
Or email: khothatso@iolmail.co.nz
Eilda Zaghmout
OIYP 2004 Action Partner, Palestine.
Last week I came back home after attending a one-week Euro-Med Multilateral Youth Exchange in Eksjo, Sweden, under the theme of "Qualitative Rural Reality".
The exchange brought about 40 people from 8 countries: Palestine, Jordan, Algeria, Lebanon, Sweden, the UK, Greece and Italy. I went with a group of volunteers from my organization "Holyland Trust."
The cultural exchange, incorporating the theme of “Qualitative Rural Reality,” supported fourfold goals:
1. Building cross-cultural bridges.
2. Contribution towards an increase in understanding between different nations, cultures & religions.
3. Work towards Peace & Democracy and promotion of respect for human rights.
4. Stimulation of involvement in and commitment to social development.
Through this Exchange, Holy Land Trust's Palestine delegation forged new relationships and created international networks with the other groups both in the Middle East and Europe for further cooperation in the future.
Imane Khachani
OIYP 2004 Action Partner, Morocco.
About 3 months ago, Sofiah sent a call for applications for an internship at UNFPA headquarters in New York to the HIV/AIDS and Health e-groups. I sent my application and a few weeks later, I got a call saying that I'd been short-listed and had to have an interview. How stressful it was!!!! During the interview they asked me about my medical career, about how I deal with working in groups and how I manage conflicts and tensions. They seemed very impressed when I talked to them about my experience in the OIYP. They asked me about the parliament, what I did, what I learnt, what I achieved once back in Morocco etc...and then they PICKED ME!!!!!!!!!!! I really couldn't believe it!!
It's a 6 months internship at the United Nations Populations' Fund headquarters in New York, as part as the Youth Peer Education program in the Division for Arab States and Eastern Europe (DASE). I, as an intern, am supposed to work with Global Youth Coalition on planning national activities for the Global Youth Day, assist other Arab countries to be involved in the GYC initiatives, assist the division in collecting documentation on young peer education initiatives and programs in the region and monitoring/managing the regional youth projects and programs aiming at supporting peer education and optimising the effectiveness of national efforts on improving adolescents' sexual and reproductive health.
I hope it will be an experience as rich and constructive as the OIYP!!
Editor’s Note: If you would like some more information from Imane regarding this fantastic opportunity she has taken up, email her at imane_khachani@doctor.com
Andy Nziengui.
OIYP 2004 Action Partner, Gabon.
Following the call for applications for the 2005 Mobility for Young People Program launched by the Intergovernmental Agency for the French Language, the Association of Young French-Speaking Volunteers of Gabon is proposing to organise an international meeting of young French-speaking people (aged 18-30) from 10-17 August to debate the topic "The status of young girls in the French-speaking world".
Conferences, debates and workshops will be organised to elaborate on this theme. To this end, I ask all Action Partners from member countries of the French-speaking world to visit the website below to express your support for this project.
NB. International transport, housing (a minimum of two to a room), food, visa fees and insurance will be covered by the PMJ.
Tel: 241 97 82 88
Constance Georgina Walyroo
OIYP 2004 Action Partner, Kenya.
The Global Youth Coalition on HIV/AIDS is a project of youth representing organizations from around the world working to fight the global HIV/AIDS pandemic.
GYCA aims to link the countless youth and youth organizations from around the world working on different aspects of the global HIV/AIDS crisis in a global network. In doing this, GYCA will work with existing regional and national networks. GYCA aims to use capacity building, networking, political advocacy and the opportunities offered by international AIDS conferences in the fight against HIV/AIDS.
For more information on this project, see the GYCA website:
http://groups.takingitglobal.org/GYCAconsultation
STORY OF THE MONTH
In our Story of the Month, Progress Moyo, Action Partner from Zimbabwe, looks at the process of setting up an association offering support to young entrepreneurs in Zimbabwe. Microfinance opportunities are among the services he wishes to provide to the youth of his country, but, like other Action Partners, he has found that external forces have made implementing his Action Plan less straightforward than first anticipated.
I am trying to register the Young Entrepreneur’s Association Zimbabwe, an organisation which aims to reduce youth unemployment and support young people in developing entrepreneurial projects. If registered, this association will enable us to reach out and do what we can in community development and the creation of employment.
I foresee the greatest challenge being to register because of the new rules set by the government. We definitely need your support on this and if you have anything that you feel is relevant to this that you can facilitate us with we will be most grateful.
I also would like to dedicate this project to all the L&E AAG @ IYP2004. You are the idea and inspiration behind this initiative.
YEAZ has as part of its objectives to source funds from financial institutions (micro-credit) for the purpose of helping youth in implementing their own entrepreneurial projects. While that is part of our objective, micro-credit in Zimbabwe at the moment is not practical due to high inflation levels that inhibit youth initiated economic growth. While this is the case at the moment we are aiming to utilise micro-credit for export oriented entrepreneurial projects since they generate foreign currency and therefore promote economic growth and self-sustenance/employment. We believe that it will be effective because every project that we are going to help youth in implementing will go through a feasibility study to make sure that the chances of success are much higher than of failure. Also as part of the feasibility study, we consider the market and competition on the project. Part of the security measure is to make sure the project will be successful. We also guide the youths who have been funded in implementation and day-to-day management of the project until the loan is fully paid back, that is at a time that we leave the project to the responsibility of the beneficiary youth as their own project.
YEAZ is currently in the process of registering as a welfare organisation under the Ministry of Social Welfare. It has already started working with upcoming musicians and dancers/artists in spreading its identity to the youth around Zimbabwe. We are aiming at having the first show/exhibition in early April and we hope that by then we will be registered.
Mobile number: +263 91 429 820
E-mail: progress_moyo@yahoo.com / yeazimbabwe@yahoo.com
NETWORK AND TAKE ACTION
News from Oxfam or external partners involved in work relevant to OIYP’s aims.
The Microfinance Network
The Microfinance Network is a group of NGOs, formal financial institutions and others, from various countries, who demonstrate a commitment to bringing financial assistance to a broader range of groups and individuals.
The microfinance network facilitates information flow and gives members access to publications.
For more information, see: www.bellanet.org/partners/mfn/
The African Development Foundation.
The African Development Foundation is a US government agency working solely at a community level in Africa to alleviate poverty and promote broad-based sustainable development. ADF provides small-scale financial assistance to groups and individuals in order to provide opportunities for small businesses to develop. 250 projects are currently receiving financial support from ADF.
For more information, including application guidelines for small grants, see:
The 2004/5 APC African Hafkin Communications Prize.
$7500USD will be awarded to individuals or organisations whose project initiative is judged as having brought positive economic benefits to Africa using the internet or other digital communication.
For more information, see: www.apc.org/english/hafkin/
World Report on the Culture of Peace.
This is the midterm report from civil society to the UN General Assembly for the International Decade. Information received by April 2005 will be included in the report sent to the UN Secretary-General. It will then figure in the plenary session of the UN General Assembly devoted to the culture of peace in Fall, 2005.
To fill out a questionnaire and contribute to the report, see:
http://decade-culture-of-peace.org
The organisers are trying to get a youth representative to be there when the report is presented, to represent all youth actions at the UN General Assembly. They are also trying to get as many youth organisations as possible to participate, so see the website for more details of these opportunities.
UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development.
The UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (DESD) will be officially launched at UN Headquarters in New York on the afternoon of 1st March 2005. The UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan will speak at the launch.
In addition to the international launch, a series of regional and national launches of the Decade will take place during the course of 2005
MARCH FEATURE
A story on March’s Theme, Microcredit
In our March feature, we explore the recent development of microfinance systems due to the increasing popularity of this form of aid. Former IYP Voice editor Jacinta Isaacs, in Bangkok, contributes an insight into the ways in which microcredit is being used to assist the process of rebuilding after the tsunami in affected areas of Thailand. Our feature story demonstrates how the small-scale, community-focussed assistance offered by microfinance systems can be extremely effective in assisting members of devastated industries to rebuild.
Over the past few years, the idea of issuing small loans to people in developing countries, who do not have access to more conventional forms of financing, has expanded to include other financial services such as savings accounts and insurance policies. It is under the general umbrella of Microfinance that these services are now classified. Microfinance is gradually becoming a popular and widespread method of assisting individuals and small groups to expand their earning capacity, with, in many cases, positive results.
This year, in the International Year of Microfinance, the UN will work with governments and lending institutions in order to increase the levels of funding currently available.
* * * * *
The Asian earthquake and tsunami inflicted estimated structural damage worth 30 billion baht (US$ 769.2 million) in Thailand, yet it also left tourism industry and government representatives receptive to post-tsunami reconstruction strategies.
According to Oliver Allais, a Senior Adviser to Planet Finance, an international Non-Government Organisation working in the microfinance sector, “In a catastrophic period, like the tsunami, you can accelerate a certain amount of change; people are ready to listen to new ideas.”
“You can find a way to open a door that would not be opened if it were not for the tsunami,” he explained.
Such an opening may be just what small and medium- sized business enterprises need.
Indeed, Peter de Jong, President and CEO of the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) expressed a need to support such small business owners.
“We need to help the small tourism operators in the private sector. The destination is the product and the destination is made up of hundreds of small and medium-sized operators. Today, such tourism operators along with sarong vendors, beachside batik painters and fishing trip operators, remain almost voice-less,” he said, speaking at the World Tourism Organisation Emergency Task Force meeting held on January 31st in Phuket.
“Let us not forget the local people who actually build the destination, often with their bare hands,” he urged.
According to Allais, microfinance is a means “to help the people to save and have a bit more of a margin of decision in their lives.”
Allais acknowledges that microfinance is “a very fragile system,” but it is also “a system that is helping millions of people in the world.”
Such tools may be key in an environment where, according to a recent ADB report, the economic impact of the tsunami will be sorely felt at the local and community levels, pushing 2 million people in South and Southeast Asia further into poverty.
However, despite the increasing popularity of microfinance, a system that has proved itself to be relatively efficient, safe and reliant, according to Allais, “There are still a lot of constraints.”
Allais argues that microfinance institutions are often operating in competition with established moneylenders.
“Microfinance is not so easy to introduce,” he argued.
“The financial problem of the poor is very much sometimes a business relation or a social relation. So if the relation has been established for generations with a certain type of moneylender, it is part of the caste, the culture, the power.”
The policy and financial context in which a microfinance project is set up can also be a constraining factor. The ADB’s ‘Microfinance Development Strategy’ report, based on the ADB’s assessment of 7 completed projects, acknowledges that the policy environment in some countries does not encourage the development of the microfinance industry. For example, in Thailand, ceilings on interest rates in fact limit the amount of access households have to the finance, according to the report.
Such social relations work their way into the microfinance agreements themselves.
According to Allais, “Microfinance is mostly working with women. They have proved to be the best clients; more responsible, more concerned, more proactive. This is key.”
A large proportion of those taking out small loans the world over are women, and it is to this fact that the high repayment level of microcredit loans of 98% is attributed. Mark Malloch Brown, the UNDP Administrator, believes that this occurs because women take such pride in repaying their loans. (“NGO/DPI Briefing on International Year of Microcredit, 27 January 2005” in the February 2005 edn of “Inside Voice”.) Furthermore, evidence suggests that access to financial services and resources, over time, leads to women becoming more confident and better equipped to confront systemic gender inequality. (“Oxfam Great Britain Livelihoods Strategy”) As they overwhelmingly carrying the primary child-rearing responsibility, microfinance provides women with a method of improving both their own and their children’s quality of life.
One impressive example of a microfinance provider is the NGO BRAC, in Bangladesh. This organization has over 5 million beneficiaries, 60 000 staff and it represents over 1% of Bangladesh’s GDP. (“Oxfam Great Britain Livelihoods Strategy”
BRAC has supported the formation of over 110 000 women’s saving and credit groups and helps the group members develop income-generating activities, mainly in the area of agriculture. BRAC has set up businesses such as poultry-feed mills, tree nurseries, seed processing plants, fish hatcheries and a dairy packaging plant. These businesses generate enough profit to provide significant re-investment into BRAC’s education and health programs.
Due to the work of organizations such as BRAC, significant improvements have been observed in nutrition levels, life expectancy and maternal and child mortality rates in parts of Bangladesh.
Microfinance is also beginning to be tailored to youth needs, with the Microfinance for Youth program being set up in South Africa with the aim of assisting child heads of households who are caring for younger siblings. Assistance in this program is delivered through high schools, overseen by teachers. Programs such as this one recognize that microfinance is a means of ensuring that children and young people have a future.
Microfinance is a method of addressing the overwhelming issue of poverty in a small-scale, community-focused manner. It has assisted hundreds of thousands of individuals to improve their own quality of life and it is for this vital reason that it has captured the imagination of NGOs the world over.
RESOURCES
Virtual Library on Microcredit: www.gdrc.org/icm/index.html
Information Kit provided by the official International Year of Microcredit 2005 website. Download at: www.yearofmicrocredit.org/pages/reslib/reslib_recreading.asp#top
Online forum through which you can ask questions of microcredit experts at: www.yearofmicrocredit.org/pages/getinvolved/getinvolved_experts.
The Microfinance Gateway – a website providing both information and links at: www.microfinancegateway.org/
UNCDF Microfinance Homepage: www.uncdf.org/english/microfinance
UN Voices of Youth: www.unicef.org/voy/takeaction/takeaction1690.html
LETTERS TO VOICE
Dear Voice
I wanted to inform you about our recent published book titled "Child Abuse and Neglect" in Iran. Its details are as the following:
- Book name: "Child Abuse and Neglect"
- By:
1. Aliakbar Sayyari, MD, Associated Professor of Pediatrics, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
2. Mohammad Reza Moinfar, MD, Professor of Pediatrics, George Town University Medical School, USA
3. Vahid Nowbahar, MD, Member of International Society for Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect
4. Farzad Jalali, Student of Medicine, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran
- Foreword by: Marcellina Mian, MD, Professor of Pediatrics, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Canada
- Language: Persian; Foreword in English and Persian
- Publisher: Ministry of Health and Medical Education, Iran
I'm so delighted to inform you that Professor Marcellina Mian has written a foreword on this book. She is a prominent professor: Director, Undergraduate Medical Education, The Hospital for Sick Children (Toronto) and Head, International Society for Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect (ISPCAN)- USA.
This is the FIRST time that a book about child abuse IN SCIENTIFIC & LAW and MEDICAL VIEW has been published in Iran although we have some books in story and general field.
Stay in touch and take care,
Vahid Nowbahar
OIYP 2004 Action Partner, Iran.
ENDNOTE
“Microfinance has proved its value, in many countries, as a weapon against poverty and hunger. It really can change people’s lives for the better – especially the lives of those who need it most.” - Kofi Annan, UN Secretary-General.
