The General Assembly in particular noted that microcredit programs have proved to be an effective tool in freeing people from the bondage of poverty and have led to their increasing participation in the mainstream economic and political process of society. The microcredit programs have especially benefited women and have resulted in the achievement of their empowerment in a world where more women than men live in absolute poverty and that the imbalance continues to grow. 

The General Assembly welcomed: 

• "the launching of different microcredit initiatives in recent years and acknowledges their important contribution to the eradication of poverty. empowerment of women and social upliftment;
  
  
• the outcome of the Microcredit Summit held at Washington, DC from 2 to 4 February 1997, which through its Declaration and Plan of Action, endorsed a global campaign to reach 100 million of the world's poorest families, especially women of those families, with credit for self employment and other financial and business services, by the year 2005 ............."

  
An Indian collective is being established to bring all the Indian players in micro finance together with a common platform, to fulfil in India the goals of the Microcredit Summit. The Indian Collective for MicroFinance was discussed at a meeting in Delhi on 3-4 December, hosted by Rastriya Mohila Kosh (RMK) and Action Aid. RMK is an important funder of microfinance programs.  

The Collective will collate information on all the initiatives¾ both governmental and NGO¾ currently supporting microfinance. It will network these organizations to build a consensus on the issues, and bring the grassroots realities faced by programs working with the poor into a national, public forum. The common understanding developed will be used in advocacy to donors, Government and NGOs for prompt and appropriate provision of financial services to the poor, particularly women.  

Regional Resource Centers are planned under the Collective to sponsor workshops, training and publications for all micro finance institutions in that region, using the training expertise already developed by institutions like BIRD.  

CASHPOR India fully supports this initiative and has applied for membership of the Collective. Membership is open to all institutions, including networks, associated with microfinance for the poor. 

Two new enterprises have now joined the growing Grameen family of companies. Grameen-Bitek Ltd (GBL) is a new venture of Grameen Fund for manufacture and marketing of voltage stabilizers, electro-medical equipment as well as other electronic products. The Volt Guard and built- in- stabilizers will have a ready market for computers and other electronic appliances in the rural and urban areas where electric supply remains erratic, with highly fluctuating voltage. GF owns 51 percent of the equity and balance is owned by the local entrepreneurs who designed and developed the products locally. Grameen Knitwear, located within Dhaka Export Processing Zone, will be a one hundred percent export oriented modern composite knitwear factory. It will be equipped with the most modern knitting, dyeing, finishing and garments machinery and a lab for quality control, capable of producing every year a million dozen pieces of high quality knit products. The factory will go into production by early 1999. Grameen Knitwear is owned by Grameen Kalyan, Grameen Shamogree, Grameen Uddog and Grameen Fund, Member of Grameen family of enterprisees. 

It is intended that shares of both the enterprises will be ultimately sold to Grameen borrowers. The rural poor in Bangladesh thus has the unique opportunity to become owners of modern high tech, high value industrial assets.

  
1. Voices From The Field: Interviews with microcredit practitioners by Alex Counts, CASHPOR, August, 1997. US$10. Key figures in the replication movement in Asia, and Professor Yunus, talk frankly about their experiences, policies and problems in adapting the Grameen model to their countries. 

2. Cloning Grameen Bank: Replicating a Poverty Reduction Model in India, Nepal and Vietnam. Edited by Helen Todd, Intermediate Technology Publications, London, 1996 $10. 

It can't be done, said the experts. But four very different individuals-a central banker, an NGO organizer, a professor and a top level Communist official went ahead to replicate the Grameen Bank model in their countries. This book gives an unvarnished account of the crucial first years of establishing these four credit programs, alerting practitioners to the pitfalls and obstacles- and what it takes to succeed in this vital business. 

3. Poor But Strong, by Mr Karl Osner and translated by Ms Christina de Souza, US$ 10. 

This is a Grameen Trust publication. In this book, the author tells the life stories of Grameen borrowers. The author states, " They are poor, but by no means without resources and poverty is not a fate decreed by God, rather it is determined by social conditions and is therefore susceptible to change." 



These Publications can be purchased from Grameen Trust. 

Seventeen participants from Bangladesh, Ghana, India, Mauritius, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, Senegal and USA, attended the 25th Grameen International Dialogue Program. It was jointly organized by Grameen Trust and Grameen Bank and was held on February 22 to March 06, 1998 in Bangladesh. 

The first day of the dialogue was spent by the participants in describing their own programs and briefings on Grameen Bank and Grameen Trust. 

The following day, participants departed for their Grameen immersion program, which involved close interaction with borrowers and staff at Grameen branches in Dhaka, Comilla, Dinajpur, and Patuakhali zones. After their return from six days of field exposure, the participants shared their experiences about the operational system of Grameen Bank at the grass root and its impact on the lives of the rural poor. Later the participants heard from Ms. Roshaneh Zafar, Executive Director, Kashf Foundation of Pakistan and Mr W. Brajabidhu Singh, General Secretory, Rural Development Organization of Manipur, India about their experiences in replication of GB system in their respective countries. 

The final two days were spent in preparation of action plans in which participants commented on the feasibility of Grameen replications in their own countries. Some of the participants drew up detailed proposals for undertaking Grameen replications, while others presented various other practical proposals which they would try to implement after their return back home. 

BMZ/GTZ of Germany, through Grameen Trust (GT), has been financing replication of the Grameen Bank approach in selected countries of Asia since 1993. A process of participatory evaluation of all the actors in this replication system was initiated in January 1997 by North South Dialogue (NSD) for joint learning, and problem solving. Six GTZ/GT funded Grameen Bank Replications (GBRs) were selected for the evaluation: MKEJ in Indonesia, SHARE and NIRDHAN in India and ASHI, CARD and PD in the Philippines. 

The self evaluation reports were presented at a workshop organized by GT and NSD, financed by BMZ/GTZ and hosted by SHARE in Hyderabad, was held in Hyderabad, India, from 6-12 March 1998. 

The main finding of the self evaluation was that the 6 GBRs had replicated the essentials of the Grameen Bank methodology successfully and nearly all are today, mature financial insitutions reaching significant numbers of poor. It was also concluded that although there is variation among the 6 GBRs in terms of outreach and progress to viability, there was no necessary trade off between lending to the poorest and the poor and institutional financial viability. 

The 6 GBRs have faced a number of difficulties over the years in implementing their credit programs for the poorest. These include shortage of funds, absence of appropriate legal status for GBRs in their respective countries and in some cases, problems of leadership. The participants deliberated on ways to deal with these difficulties in the future.

An educational Dialogue program for RESULTS Volunteers was jointly organized by Grameen Bank, RESULTS Educational Fund and Grameen Trust on March 14-23,1998. RESULTS is an USA based advocacy group committed to raising funds for the global campaigns against poverty. 

Twenty two participants, all volunteers from USA, attended the program to gain first hand experience about Grameen so that when they spoke about Grameen, on their return to USA, they would be speaking about something they had personally experienced. 

The program was designed not only to give the participants an in-depth understanding of Grameen, but also give an idea, how microcredit was being used by different NGOs in Bangladesh, as an anti-poverty tool. Participants were taken on a three-day field program to different zones of Grameen Bank where they met Grameen borrower and staff. Also as a part of the program, the participants visited different NGOs involved with micro-credit, such as: ASA, BRAC, Gonosastha Kendra and Proshika. 

The dialogue provided another opportunity to renew and reinforce the long-standing relationship between Grameen and RESULTs in their common struggle against poverty world wide.

Grameen Trust officially launched the Grameen Global Network (GGN), during the Micro-credit Summit to provide a forum for discussion, problem solving and strategy building. GGN members, represent different credit and development organisations all over the world, including GT funded programs. GGN will hold a meeting for its members during the forthcoming Micro-credit Summit, Meeting of the Councils on June 25-27, 1998. Grameen Trust hopes that, this meeting will help its network members, partner organizations to focus on their goals, strategies for the next decade.

  
Please send a contribution of $ 25 in favour of Grameen Trust and put a friend on the mailing list of Grameen Dialogue. Quarterly Newsletter published by Grameen Trust. Let your friend be an important part in the chain of people committed to work for the elimination of poverty from earth.

International Dialogue  
26th Dialogue : April 19-May 01, 1998 
27th Dialogue : August 02-14, 1998 
28th Dialogue : November 15-27, 1998 

National Dialogue 
3rd National Dialogue : June 07-11, 1998 

Exposure-Evaluation Dialogue 
2nd Exposure-Evaluation Dialogue : May 1998 
Host : Pro-Mujer, Bolivia 

Workshops 
1.  Microcredit Technologies 
     Host: GB & GT Bangladesh 
     Date: May 09-15, 1998 

2.  Repayment Problems and Rehabilitation Strategies  
     June, 1998 
     Uganda 

3.  Financial Management  
     Host: GB & GT Bangladesh 
     Date: September 19-25, 1998 

4.  Credit Discipline  
     October,1998 
     China 

Special Training 
1.  Branch Managers Training  
     Host: GB & GT Bangladesh 
     Date: July 1998

http://www.grameen.com 
http://www.grameen.org.sg 

2. Microcredit Summit Information:  

http://www.microcreditsummit.org 

http://www.accessone.com/~carlp 

4. Grameen Bank Support Group/ Australia 

http://www.rdc.com.au/grameen 

http://www.yomogi.org.jp

  
Grameen Trust has now its own website with updated information on Grameen Bank replication projects in various part of the world. One can find the Dialogue Information Sheet, Grameen Global Network Form , Monthly Statements etc at this site. Take a look at the webpage at the following address: www.grameen.com/grameen/gtrust