International Year of Microcredit 2005

	Information Kit
	Resources
	Photo Library
	Timeline of events leading up to the Launch of the Year of Microcredit



	Information Kit
Download the International Year of Microcredit info kit here. --What's Happening? Major Activities Planned for the Year --Microfinance and the MDG's --Around the World: National Activities in Support of the Year --Get Involved! What You Can Do to Support the Year back to top


	Resources
For more information including links, a brochure on ‘Understanding Microfinance and Microcredit’, fast facts, and recommended reading, please visit the resource library. back to top


	Photo Library
Click here to access photos of microentrepreneurs in Mozambique, Madagascar, Nigeria, Vietnam and vibrant marketplaces all over the world. If you choose to use these photos, please be sure to use the credit "Adam Rogers/UNCDF". For more questions about the subjects of the photos or resolution, please email: adam.rogers@uncdf.org


	Timeline of Events
Following is a brief timeline of events leading up to the launch of the International Year of Microcredit 2005:

December 1998:	The UN General Assembly designated the year 2005 as the International Year of Microcredit (resolution 53/197) stating that the Year will be an important opportunity to give impetus to microfinance programmes throughout the world.
December 2002:	The Secretary General (DESA/DSPD/MICROCREDIT/2002) requested Government's views and suggestions on the goals and activities that could be taken at the regional, national and local levels in preparation for and observance of the Year.
April 2003:	United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF), as the policy advisory and technical assistance center for microfinance of the United Nations Development Programme Group (UNDP), was requested by the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA) to develop, with inputs from Member States, UN agencies and other stakeholders, a draft programme of action for the Year as mandated in the resolution 53/197.
June 2003:	A draft programme for the Year as part of the Secretary-General’s report on the Implementation of the first United Nations Decade for the Eradication of Poverty (1997-2006) was submitted to the fifty-eight session of the General Assembly was finalized. The report is available here.
September 2003:	The report of the Secretary-General on the Implementation of the first United Nations Decade for the Eradication of Poverty (1997-2006) was published.
October 2003:	The report was discussed in the Second Committee under item 100 of the provisional agenda.
October 2003:	A briefing was organized for Member States on the draft programme of action for the Year.
November 2003:	A draft resolution on the International Year of Microcredit was negotiated in the Second Committee (Economic and Financial).
December 2003:	The resolution A/Res/58/221 on the Programme of Action for the Year of Microcredit was adopted by the General Assembly.
September 2004:	Report of the Secretary General on Preparations for the International Year of Microcredit 2005
18 November 2004:	Launch of the Year at the United Nations headquarters in New York. For more information on the launch, click here.