ABOUT THE CONFERENCE
The fight against poverty and unemployment in the Middle East : a social and strategic challenge”
One out of five people in the Arab World live on less than 2 dollars a day. In a time of incredible liquidity in the region, it might seem counterintuitive to know that poverty is not receding; it is, by all measures, advancing. A large part of the population of the Middle East is currently deprived of opportunities can be given access through micro credit tools to credit and professional success. In the context of a region like the Middle East, decision makers are increasingly becoming aware that the fight for opportunity and against poverty is both a social and a strategic challenge. Microfinance is the provision of financial services to the entrepreneurial poor. As such, it is the most effective economic tool in the fight against poverty. It represents a solution for reviving and supporting sustainable growth consistent with the abilities of the beneficiaries.
A possible solution: the microcredit
One of the cornerstones of microfinance is its reliance on the relationships of trust that exists within communities and between individuals. Microcredit has demonstrated that it can play a critical role in helping the poor to break their economic and social isolation. Microfinance solutions demonstrate that charity is not the solution to lift people out of poverty because poor people are bankable and banking with the poor can be profitable and sustainable.
The Dubai Microfinance Forum: a platform to discuss the challenges
The 1st Dubai Microfinance Forum, focus on these challenges, shaping the Middle East agenda towards the use of Microcredit tools in providing opportunities for the entrepreneurial poor. Providing an opportunity for people to lift themselves out of poverty will be at the heart of the conference's program. It represented a moment of reflection and dialogue among the practitioner, private sector leaders and the officials who want to establish approaches, methods and procedures capable of responding to the environment and conditions of the Middle East. Over a two-day program, practitioners and experts but also concerned business and community leaders were able to hear from each other what the best strategies are for Microfinance in the Arab world and in the Middle East in particular.
Microfinance in Middle East: a sector to expand
Microfinance is less developed in the Arab World than in Asia, Africa or Latin America, question of culture or politics? Relatively to other regions, Microfinance is a young industry in the MENA region. The oldest program is barely 15 years old and most programs were started In the 1990s. Yet the potential for the sector is enormous and today's microfinance intermediaries meet less than 5% of the region's total demand. Regardless, the region is prone to microenterprises. In Egypt alone, the micro-enterprise sector generates approximately 75,000 jobs every year. The region can draw valuable lessons from other experiences from around the globe and adapt best practice to their specific environments. What seems to be clear is that there is a large room for microfinance in the region which has a strong demography and a very young population needing economic opportunities to be able to live decently, have projects and hope. Microfinance, which has been acknowledged by political experts, UN, G8,... as the most efficient instrument to fight poverty at the time being, can help to improve dramatically the situation of millions of people in this part of the world.