Congress Nods Approval for International Development Finance

Washington, D.C. – The World Council of Credit Unions (WOCCU) and the Credit Union National Association (CUNA) worked with the offices of key Congressional appropriators to encourage increased U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) funding for microenterprise development and reinstatement of microenterprise development office funding, measures which were incorporated into the statement of managers for the omnibus appropriations bill that passed Saturday.

"The managers support microenterprise development programs for the poor, especially women, and urge USAID to achieve a level of $200,000,000 for these programs in fiscal year 2005," read the statement. "The managers also recommend $30,000,000 be available to USAID's Office of Microenterprise [Development] through a central funding or other appropriate mechanism for contracts, cooperative agreements and grants."

WOCCU's credit union development programs focus on strengthening the financial performance and increasing the outreach of credit unions so that more poor and low-income people have access to financial services, including savings, credit, remittances and insurance. The majority of WOCCU's development projects are funded by USAID under the heading of microenterprise development.

"Given the many strains on U.S. foreign assistance, WOCCU appreciates that the appropriators have recognized funding for microfinance as an important priority for development assistance. Key offices have understood that access to financial services is essential to stimulate economic growth at the community level around the world," said Anna Cora Evans, WOCCU development finance manager.

A separate bill, the Microenterprise Results and Accountability Act of 2004, is set to be taken up by Congress after the Thanksgiving holiday. House and Senate versions of that bill passed just last week.

El Consejo Mundial de Cooperativas de Ahorro y Crédito es la asociación gremial y agencia de desarrollo para el sistema internacional de cooperativas de ahorro y crédito. El Consejo Mundial promueve el crecimiento sustentable de las cooperativas de ahorro y crédito y otras cooperativas financieras en todo el mundo a fin de facultar a las personas para que mejoren su calidad de vida a través del acceso a servicios financieros asequibles y de alta calidad. El Consejo Mundial realiza esfuerzos de defensa activa en representación del sistema global de las cooperativas de ahorro y crédito ante organizaciones internacionales y trabaja con gobiernos nacionales para mejorar la legislación y la regulación. Sus programas de asistencia técnica introducen nuevas herramientas y tecnologías para fortalecer el desempeño financiero de las cooperativas de ahorro y crédito y profundizar su alcance comunitario.

El Consejo Mundial ha implementado 290 programas de asistencia técnica en 71 países. A nivel mundial, 51,000 cooperativas de ahorro y crédito en 100 países atienden a 196 millones de personas. Obtenga más información sobre el impacto global del Consejo Mundial en www.woccu.org.