PROJECT PROPOSAL FOR A : “EUROPEAN MICROCREDIT NETWORK SYSTEM (EUMNS)

1. PROJECT PROPOSAL FOR A : • “EUROPEAN MICROCREDIT NETWORK SYSTEM • (EUMNS) • “A european platform to strengthen a sustainable microcredit strategy in the less developed countries” • (promoted by IDEA a.i.s.b.l - Bruxelles)

2. Microcredit in the European Union development policies • IN LESS DEVELOPED COUNTRIES, MICROCREDIT IS RECOGNIZED AS AN EFFECTIVE TOOL, AMONG OTHERS, TO FIGHT AGAINGST POVERTY, TO EMPOWER LOW-INCOME POPULATIONS, TO CONTRIBUTE TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE PRIVATE SECTOR; • ENHANCING EU MICROCREDIT POLICIES IS ESSENTIAL FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE EUROMEDITERRANEAN FREE TRADE AREA, THE EU SOUTH EASTERN COUNTRIES AND THOSE FALLING IN THE NEIGHBOURHOOD COUNTRIES POLICY; • EXISTING ON FIELD MICROCREDIT PRACTICES INVOLVING MULTIPLE EUROPEAN ACTORS, HAVE SHOWN AN INCREASING NEED OF COORDINATION, SPECIALIZATION AND COLLABORATIONS.

3. Microcredit in the European Union development policies - IN NOVEMBER 2003, THE JOINT MANAGEMENT OF DG DEVELOPMENT AND EUROPE AID OF THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION, DECIDED TO RE-ORIENT THE EC MICROFINANCE POLICY TOWARDS CAPACITY BUILDING ACTIVITIES AND TO LEAVE CREDIT LINES TO THE EUROPEAN INVESTEMENT BANK AND TO OTHER SPECIALISED DEVELOPMENT FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS *; - IN THE FRAMEWORK OF THE UN 2005 INTERNATIONAL YEAR OF MICROCREDIT, AN IMPROVED COLLABORATION AND PERMANENT DIALOGUE AMONG EUROPEAN/NATIONAL INTERESTED ACTORS HAS BEEN UNDERLINED; * The EIB Report, June 2005, “Definition of an enhanced Bank Strategy in the microfinance sector”.

4. Microcredit in the European Union development policies • IN LESS DEVELOPED COUNTRIES, MICROCREDIT IS RECOGNIZED AS AN EFFECTIVE TOOL, AMONG OTHERS, TO FIGHT AGAINGST POVERTY, TO EMPOWER LOW-INCOME POPULATIONS, TO CONTRIBUTE TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE PRIVATE SECTOR; • ENHANCING EU MICROCREDIT POLICIES IS ESSENTIAL FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE EUROMEDITERRANEAN FREE TRADE AREA, THE EU SOUTH EASTERN COUNTRIES AND THOSE FALLING IN THE NEIGHBOURHOOD COUNTRIES POLICY; • EXISTING ON FIELD MICROCREDIT PRACTICES INVOLVING MULTIPLE EUROPEAN ACTORS, HAVE SHOWN AN INCREASING NEED OF COORDINATION, SPECIALIZATION AND COLLABORATIONS.

5. Microcredit in the European Union development policies • EU/NATIONAL SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC PARTNERS, THE CIVIL SOCIETY, COULD BE INVOLVED IN THIS PROCESS TO DEPLOY THEIR NETWORK CAPACITIES AND BETTER IMPACT IN THE BENEFICIARY COUNTRIES; • AN INCREASED NEED OF EXCHANGE OF INFORMATION ON SUSTAINABLE MICROCREDIT POLICIES AND PRACTICES AT EUROPEAN /NATIONAL LEVEL AND RELATED FINAL BENEFICIARIES, REQUIRE AN APPROPRIATE COMMUNICATION ENVIRONMENT .

6. “EUROPEAN MICROCREDIT NETWORK SYSTEM - EUMNS - DEMO-VERSIONwww.idea-aisbl.org/eumns

7. EUMNS General objectives • - TO FACILITATE AND TO STRENGTHEN LINKS AND COLLABORATIONS AMONG INTERESTED EUROPEAN ACTORS ON MICROCREDIT AND MICROFINANCE POLICIES AND PROGRAMMES AS WELL AS MONITORING EMERGING NEEDS EXPRESSED BY BENEFICIARY COUNTRIES AND STRATEGIC TARGET AREAS; • - TO STIMULATE, IN THEIR EUROPEAN DIMENSION, ALL COMPETENT INSTITUTIONS AND INTERESTED ACTORS NETWORK TO CONTRIBUTE TO THE EXCHANGE AND TO BENCHMARK THEIR MICROCREDIT REGULATORY FRAMEWORK, RESEARCHES AND APPLIED SOLUTIONS; • - TO STRENGTHEN THE CAPACITIES IN SUSTAINABLE MICROCREDIT DEVELOPMENT POLICY AND MEASURES AT EUROPEAN UNION LEVEL AND MEMBER STATES; • TO DISPOSE JOINTLY OF AN EASY TO USE ACCESSIBLE ON - LINE PLATFORM, FLEXIBLE AND DYNAMIC IN A MULTILANGUAGE ENVIRONMENT .

8. EUMNS Specific objectives • TO SHARE AVAILABLE INFORMATION, MONITORING AND REPORTING, TRAINING ACTIVITY CARRIED ON AT EU AND NATIONAL LEVEL AFTER THE 2005 INTERNATIONAL YEAR OF MICREDIT; • TO FACILITATE THE PERMANENT EXCHANGE OF EXPERIENCES ON MICROCREDIT AND SHARE OF ON FIELD SUSTAINABLE PRACTICES TO FIGHT AGAINST POVERTY IN THE INDIVIDUATED TARGET AREAS DETERMINED BY DEVELOPMENT POLICIES OF THE EU; • TO EXCHANGE CAPACITY BUILDING AND TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAMMES FOR HUMAN RESOURCES MATURED IN MICROCREDIT AND RELATED LENDING METHODOLOGIES, IN MANAGING AND IMPLEMENTING PUBLIC/PRIVATE POLICIES; • TO STRENGTHEN THE COLLABORATION THROUGH RESEARCH & TRAINING, IN THE ANALYSIS AND REPLICABILITY OF SUSTAINABLE MICROCREDIT PRACTICES PARTICULARLY FOR REMITTANCES PRACTICES AND SOCIAL INCLUSION PROJECTS FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF MICROENTERPRISES;

9. THE EU 25 MEMBER STATES; EURO-MEDITERRANEAN FREE TRADE AREA; SOUTH-EST EUROPE (THE BALCANS); NEIGHBOURHOOD COUNTRIES; AFRICAN, CARAIBBEAN AND PACIFIC COUNTRIES. EUMNS MAIN TARGET AREAS

10. EUMNS MAIN CONTENTS INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION AREA: • ACCESS TO THE EU FINANCIAL DEVELOMENT INFORMATION CENTRES, SPECIALIZED GLOSSARIES ON MICROCREDIT AND MICROFINANCE; • ACCESS TO A SPECIFIC EU MICROCREDIT DATABASE STRUCTURED IN AREAS AND SUBAREAS WHERE TO SEARCH DATA, TECHNICAL CONTRIBUTIONS, EXPERT ROSTER IN THE TARGET GEOGRAPHICAL AREAS; • PILOTED ACCESS TO THE MAIN MICROCREDIT SPEC IALIZED MEDIA, PUBBLICATIONS AND NEW ARTICLES AT EU LEVEL, EVENTS AND OPERATIONAL APPLICATIONS IN THE INTERESTED AREAS; • ACCESS TO DATA AND EU INFORMATION NETWORKS ON MICROCREDIT ON A REGULAR BASIS, OPEN TO ANY CONTRIBUTION FROM INTERESTED ACTORS (E-MAIL newsgroups and discussion FORUM ); • MULTILANGUAGE ACCESS IN ARAB, RUSSIAN AND OTHER LANGUAGES MORE SIGINIFICANT TO MICROCREDIT BENEFICIARIES;

11. EUMNSMAIN CONTENTS TRAINING AREA: • TRAINING AND SELF - TRAINING TOOLS, CONTINUOS TRAINING AND DISTANT LEARNING PROGRAMMES, EXTERNAL AUDIT AND SUPPORT PRODUCTS, FOR MICROCREDIT AND MICROFINANCE INTERESTED ACTORS (MFI, DONOR AGENCIES, NGOs, INSTITUTIONS, COMMERCIAL BANKS, DEVELOPMENT BANKS etc.); RESEARCH AREA: • RESEARCH AND SPECIALISED WORKING GROUPS, ON-LINE ARCHIVES AND MULTIMEDIA CENTRE, ON PROGRAMMES , PRODUCT AND SERVICES, INFORMATION TECHNOLOGIES RELATED TO MICROCREDIT AND MICROFINANCE; • ANALYSIS OF MOST RELEVANT RECOMMENDATIONS FROM EU/NATIONAL INSTITUTIONS, SOCIAL PARNTERS CONFERENCES AND MICROCREDIT SYMPOSIA; • ANALYSIS AND EXTENSION METHODOLOGIES OF MICROCREDIT SUSTAINABLE PRACTICES, CASE STUDIES BASED ON MICROCREDIT EXPERIENCES AND RELATED MANAGING PRACTICES ON: WOMEN IN BUSINESS, RURAL FINANCE, MICROFINANCE AND EMBEDDED BUSINESSS SUPPORT SERVICES.

12. CONTENTS NOW AVAILABLE on-line • 50 selected Microcredit case studies structured in geographical target areas: • Selection of main Microcredit internet site organized in different research area and sub areas; • Microfinance technical glossaries selected for different areas of competence.

13. EUMNS PERSPECTIVES • All interested actors taking part to the Conference of Rome and the Brussels workshop promoted by IDEA AND IPALMO will be inivited to contribute to the follow-up phase of the EUMNS DEMO Version. • Please register your organization references and contact at the EUROPEAN MICROCREDIT NETWORK SYSTEM INFO POINT E-mail to: idea@idea-aisbl.org Tel. 0032.479.543101 28, Rue Duquesnoy B -1040 – BRUXELLES BELGIUM