Church agency achieves micro-credit successes working with the poor
-19/11/06
Lutheran
Church agency achieves micro-credit successes working with the poor
-19/11/06
Lutheran German Bishop Baerbel Wartenberg-Potter says that the awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize this year to micro-financier Muhammad Yunus is vital recognition that kick-starting the smallest of businesses is a key to human development – writes Peter Kenny for Ecumenical News International.
Bishop Wartenberg-Potter, who leads the northern German diocese of the North Elbian Evangelical Lutheran Church was the guest speaker at a 16 November 2006 Geneva gathering to mark the 60th anniversary of the founding of one of the world’s first international micro-credit institutions for the poor.
The Ecumenical Church Loan Fund, or ECLOF as it is known, was founded in 1946 by leaders of the Word Council of Churches and bankers who sought to harness credit in the service of the most needy. They pioneered the system of micro-credit with the poor which today is recognised as one of the most important vehicles of human development.
“Micro-finance has been recognised as an effective development tool for poverty reduction. This is because financial services enable poor and low-income households to take advantage of economic opportunities, to build assets,” said the bishop, who has been involved in micro-credit for many years. “It reduces the vulnerability of the poorest to vulnerability to external shocks that adversely affect their living standards.”
Bishop Wartenberg-Potter noted that further recognition of the value of micro-credit came in the declaration of 2005 as the United Nations Year of Micro-Credit.
“To meet the huge unmet demand, micro-finance has become mainstreamed and banks and private capital as seen as the major sources of the finance required,” said Bishop Wartenberg Potter. “The major challenge is whether micro-finance then becomes purely a private investment primarily concerned with financial returns to the detriment of the developmental goals.”
Through the involvement of ECLOF, which acts under the motto ‘fair credit to create human development, and the Dutch-based Oikocredit, churches have been at the forefront in micro-finance development, she said.
Speakers at the gathering noted that ECLOF is a renowned credit institution that seeks to promote human development through fair credit. Its chairperson, the Rev Christoph Stueckelberger, a theologian and development specialist from Switzerland, said ECLOF is inspired by the Gospel vision of “putting the last first”. “Jesus Christ came to make the weak strong, and this is the vision that continues to inspire ECLOF,” he said.
The WCC’s deputy general secretary Georges Lemopoulos, on behalf of WCC general secretary the Rev. Samuel Kobia praised ECLOF for its work in the “spirituality of empowerment” that has enhanced the dignity of the human person. He said the WCC remained committed to the micro-credit organization.
Since it began in 1946, ECLOF has disbursed more than US0 million in loans to the most needy. In 2005, almost 15,000 loans worth 22 million US dollars benefited an estimated 600,000 of the world’s poorest people, mainly in Africa, Asia and Latin America.
[With acknowledgements to ENI. Ecumenical News International is jointly sponsored by the World Council of Churches, the Lutheran World Federation, the World Alliance of Reformed Churches, and the Conference of European Churches]
Church agency achieves micro-credit successes working with the poor
-19/11/06
Lutheran German Bishop Baerbel Wartenberg-Potter says that the awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize this year to micro-financier Muhammad Yunus is vital recognition that kick-starting the smallest of businesses is a key to human development – writes Peter Kenny for Ecumenical News International.
Bishop Wartenberg-Potter, who leads the northern German diocese of the North Elbian Evangelical Lutheran Church was the guest speaker at a 16 November 2006 Geneva gathering to mark the 60th anniversary of the founding of one of the world’s first international micro-credit institutions for the poor.
The Ecumenical Church Loan Fund, or ECLOF as it is known, was founded in 1946 by leaders of the Word Council of Churches and bankers who sought to harness credit in the service of the most needy. They pioneered the system of micro-credit with the poor which today is recognised as one of the most important vehicles of human development.
“Micro-finance has been recognised as an effective development tool for poverty reduction. This is because financial services enable poor and low-income households to take advantage of economic opportunities, to build assets,” said the bishop, who has been involved in micro-credit for many years. “It reduces the vulnerability of the poorest to vulnerability to external shocks that adversely affect their living standards.”
Bishop Wartenberg-Potter noted that further recognition of the value of micro-credit came in the declaration of 2005 as the United Nations Year of Micro-Credit.
“To meet the huge unmet demand, micro-finance has become mainstreamed and banks and private capital as seen as the major sources of the finance required,” said Bishop Wartenberg Potter. “The major challenge is whether micro-finance then becomes purely a private investment primarily concerned with financial returns to the detriment of the developmental goals.”
Through the involvement of ECLOF, which acts under the motto ‘fair credit to create human development, and the Dutch-based Oikocredit, churches have been at the forefront in micro-finance development, she said.
Speakers at the gathering noted that ECLOF is a renowned credit institution that seeks to promote human development through fair credit. Its chairperson, the Rev Christoph Stueckelberger, a theologian and development specialist from Switzerland, said ECLOF is inspired by the Gospel vision of “putting the last first”. “Jesus Christ came to make the weak strong, and this is the vision that continues to inspire ECLOF,” he said.
The WCC’s deputy general secretary Georges Lemopoulos, on behalf of WCC general secretary the Rev. Samuel Kobia praised ECLOF for its work in the “spirituality of empowerment” that has enhanced the dignity of the human person. He said the WCC remained committed to the micro-credit organization.
Since it began in 1946, ECLOF has disbursed more than US0 million in loans to the most needy. In 2005, almost 15,000 loans worth 22 million US dollars benefited an estimated 600,000 of the world’s poorest people, mainly in Africa, Asia and Latin America.
[With acknowledgements to ENI. Ecumenical News International is jointly sponsored by the World Council of Churches, the Lutheran World Federation, the World Alliance of Reformed Churches, and the Conference of European Churches]