We were one of the finalists in the World Bank Group's Development Marketplace Innovation Competition. Our proposal  entitled "Reducing poverty  with Dignity" was presented in Washington D.C. at the Competition, Feb. 8-10, 2000.

A huge shift is taking place in attitudes to development and poverty alleviation.  Charity, handouts and welfare once seen as the answer to combating the scourge of poverty, are now perceived as increasing the dependence of the poor.  These so-called solutions have given way to more sustainable options that aim to alleviate poverty by enabling the poor to become self-reliant.  Today, we see the accountability mechanism as the key to breaking the poverty trap.

One way of using such a mechanism is through microleasing.  This involves the provision of finance through structures accessible to the poor at commercial or near-commercial rates and in the smaller amounts that the poor need. The activity itself becomes commercially viable as the poor pay a price for acquiring the funds and in doing so, bring about a healthy change both in society's perception of the poor and the poors' perception of themselves.

Very small credit to the people at the lower rung in our country can make a remarkable difference, as it provides economic opportunities with dignity and self respect.

This is achieved through the participation of those remarkable men and women, who, throughout the country, provide employment to a vast majority of our potential work force and produce goods and services for over 70% of our population.  Their diligence, determination, commitment, honesty and sheer hard work is indeed exemplary.  Considering that most of them do not have any education or formal technical training, it is most re-assuring that they have provided the much needed economically priced goods and services, with the scarce resources at their disposal, to a large number of people at the lowest income levels.  Admittedly, the desired level of capitalization has not yet been achieved as no safety net is available to them.  Accumulated savings dwindle rapidly in the face of emergencies caused by ill-health, death, disruption in business activity and other social constraints.  Yet their confidence in themselves and the vision of a better future for their younger generation is most inspiring.

At NLC we are endeavoring to build our future on the strength of this inspiration.

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