Jordan's queen launches new microcredit anti-poverty program
by Justin Cole Wed May 2, 9:17 PM ET
NEW YORK (AFP) - Jordan's Queen Rania and Hollywood actress Natalie Portman teamed up Wednesday to launch a major new microcredit program targeting global poverty that will focus initially on the Middle East.
The Jordanian queen and the US-Israeli actress both spoke at the launch of the Village Banking Campaign, which aims to bring banking services to one million of the world's poorest families.
As part of the Middle East effort, the queen said FINCA International (Foundation for International Community Assistance), a global microcredit group, plans to start its first operations in Jordan in July.
"I know that creating opportunity in my region is not an option; it is a necessity," the queen said as she unveiled the campaign at New York University at a luncheon attended by Golden Globe-winning Portman, FINCA staffers, business executives and students.
"To my mind, microfinance is both a sound and smart investment, not only in lifting the lives of the working poor, but in stitching together the fragile, fraying seams of our troubled world," Queen Rania said.
The planned Jordan microcredit project follows the 2004 launch of a FINCA program in
Afghanistan' name=c1> SEARCHNews News Photos Images Web' name=c3> Afghanistan, an Islamic-compliant lending operation that claims to have over 34,000 "clients."
Microcredit, or microfinance, works by extending tiny loans, ranging from a few dollars to 1,000 dollars, to the poor without collateral so that budding entrepreneurs can expand a small business, such as a handicraft shop or a food stall.
The aim is to help the poor, who pay back the loans with interest, boost their livelihoods.
Portman urged people not to be "indifferent" to the plight of the world's poor, who number in the hundreds of millions. Experts say there are between 1.0 and 1.2 billion people around the world who survive on less than one dollar a day.
"My goal for this campaign is to galvanize my generation to support Village Banking, and take a leadership role in the fight against poverty," Portman said.
Another campaign goal is to get 100,000 microcredit village banks up and running by 2010 to serve people surviving on less than two dollars a day.
The Jordanian queen sits on FINCA's board, while Portman -- who has starred in Hollywood blockbusters including three Star Wars movies -- is an "Ambassador of Hope" for the poverty-busting group.
Portman stressed that it's barely possible to buy a cup of coffee in New York for two dollars, but that tiny micro loans of that amount and more can have a big impact on the poor, enabling them to buy seed packets and grow crops for example.
Microcredit programs exist across the Americas, Asia and Africa and are growing in the Middle East, in such places as Jordan and Saudi Arabia.
The sector has expanded to include savings and microinsurance programs, as well as gaining
United Nations' name=c1> SEARCHNews News Photos Images Web' name=c3> United Nations support.
Few people, except those toiling in the sector, had heard of microcredit until a few years ago, but it is riding a wave of publicity and acclaim and got a significant boost last year when microcredit pioneer Muhammad Yunus won the Nobel Peace Prize.
And the global banking industry, which critics charge had all but shunned the poor, appears to be taking note.
Top executives from insurance giant AIG and credit card behemoth VISA International attended Wednesday's luncheon. AIG, which has worked with microcredit groups in Uganda, said it would pledge 1.5 million dollars towards FINCA's new efforts.
US financial behemoth Citigroup is also vying to muscle into the action, declaring in a recent advertising campaign: "There's nothing MICRO about it."
FINCA, which is based in Washington, plans to self-finance its Jordan program
As part of the Middle East effort, the queen said FINCA International (Foundation for International Community Assistance), a global microcredit group, plans to start its first operations in Jordan in July.
"I know that creating opportunity in my region is not an option; it is a necessity," the queen said as she unveiled the campaign at New York University at a luncheon attended by Golden Globe-winning Portman, FINCA staffers, business executives and students.
"To my mind, microfinance is both a sound and smart investment, not only in lifting the lives of the working poor, but in stitching together the fragile, fraying seams of our troubled world," Queen Rania said.
The planned Jordan microcredit project follows the 2004 launch of a FINCA program in
Afghanistan' name=c1> SEARCHNews News Photos Images Web' name=c3> Afghanistan, an Islamic-compliant lending operation that claims to have over 34,000 "clients."
Microcredit, or microfinance, works by extending tiny loans, ranging from a few dollars to 1,000 dollars, to the poor without collateral so that budding entrepreneurs can expand a small business, such as a handicraft shop or a food stall.
The aim is to help the poor, who pay back the loans with interest, boost their livelihoods.
Portman urged people not to be "indifferent" to the plight of the world's poor, who number in the hundreds of millions. Experts say there are between 1.0 and 1.2 billion people around the world who survive on less than one dollar a day.
"My goal for this campaign is to galvanize my generation to support Village Banking, and take a leadership role in the fight against poverty," Portman said.
Another campaign goal is to get 100,000 microcredit village banks up and running by 2010 to serve people surviving on less than two dollars a day.
The Jordanian queen sits on FINCA's board, while Portman -- who has starred in Hollywood blockbusters including three Star Wars movies -- is an "Ambassador of Hope" for the poverty-busting group.
Portman stressed that it's barely possible to buy a cup of coffee in New York for two dollars, but that tiny micro loans of that amount and more can have a big impact on the poor, enabling them to buy seed packets and grow crops for example.
Microcredit programs exist across the Americas, Asia and Africa and are growing in the Middle East, in such places as Jordan and Saudi Arabia.
The sector has expanded to include savings and microinsurance programs, as well as gaining
United Nations' name=c1> SEARCHNews News Photos Images Web' name=c3> United Nations support.
Few people, except those toiling in the sector, had heard of microcredit until a few years ago, but it is riding a wave of publicity and acclaim and got a significant boost last year when microcredit pioneer Muhammad Yunus won the Nobel Peace Prize.
And the global banking industry, which critics charge had all but shunned the poor, appears to be taking note.
Top executives from insurance giant AIG and credit card behemoth VISA International attended Wednesday's luncheon. AIG, which has worked with microcredit groups in Uganda, said it would pledge 1.5 million dollars towards FINCA's new efforts.
US financial behemoth Citigroup is also vying to muscle into the action, declaring in a recent advertising campaign: "There's nothing MICRO about it."
FINCA, which is based in Washington, plans to self-finance its Jordan program
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