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Expert Group MeetingThe First United Nations Decade for the Eradication of Poverty (1997-2006)Progress and the Road Ahead&Roundtable on Poverty and MicrofinanceBuilding inclusive financial sectors for poverty reduction  : Expert Group Meeting The First United Nations Decade for the Eradication of Poverty (1997-2006) Progress and the Road Ahead & Roundtable on Poverty and Microfinance Building inclusive financial sectors for poverty reduction


Introduction to the Meeting and Roundtable : Introduction to the Meeting and Roundtable Background Overview of the meeting Expected outcomes and recommendations


Backgound : Backgound Two seemingly simple but important questions What is the Decade? Why is it the topic of this meeting?


What is the Decade? : What is the Decade? The Summit established poverty eradication as one of three core principles for social development It called for the General Assembly to declare 1996 the International Year for the eradication of poverty declare a decade for the eradication of poverty (1997-2006) The theme for the decade is "Eradicating poverty is an ethical, social, political and economic imperative of humankind." 


Why have I not heard more of the Decade? : Why have I not heard more of the Decade? Several important events overtook the Decade. The five year review of the Social Summit in Geneva in 2000 called for the setting of the goals to halve extreme poverty by 2015 The OECD DAC proposed its international development goals, including the goal to halve extreme poverty by 2015


Why have I not heard more of the Decade? : Why have I not heard more of the Decade? Several important events overtook the Decade The Millennium Declaration from the Millennium Summit in 2000 adopted the Millennium development goal of halving poverty by 2015 The United Nations has placed the Decade under the umbrella of the Millennium Declaration


Why is it the topic of this meeting? : Why is it the topic of this meeting? The Commission for Social Development in its next session in February 2006 will review the Decade Therefore this meeting is attempting to: assess the impact and influence of the Decade on reducing poverty assess the impact and influence of the Decade on the way poverty is perceived and addressed; particularly its influence on the development of poverty strategies provide policy recommendations on the basis of lessons learned for the eradication of poverty


Why bother reviewingthe Decade? : Why bother reviewing the Decade? The Decade emphasizes at least two key aspects of poverty eradication which are absent or not explicitly recognized by the Millennium Declaration: the Decade emphasized the multi-dimensionality of poverty, not only income poverty the Decade saw poverty eradication as being intimately linked to the promotion and creation of employment and the achievement of social integration


Overview of the Meeting : Overview of the Meeting Today: In terms of poverty reduction strategies, what have we learnt from the Decade about how to attack extreme poverty? Drawing upon regional experience what progress has been made during the Decade in terms of poverty reduction and how to conduct better poverty strategies? e.g. Why do East Asia and Africa have such diverse outcomes? Reducing income poverty vs. the Decade’s multi-dimensional approach to poverty reduction


Overview of the Meeting : Overview of the Meeting Tomorrow: What is the way forward, taking into account the recent G-8 decision on debt forgiveness, the strategies embodied in the Sachs Report and the Report of the Secretary-General “In Larger Freedom”? What lessons are there from the Social Summit and Decade for achieving the MDG for poverty reduction?


Overview of the Meeting : Overview of the Meeting Tomorrow: How do we reconcile these lessons with the experience from the PRSP process as well as efforts to achieve the Millennium Development Goal for poverty reduction? Recommendations and Conclusions In particular, what is the role of the United Nations and its development partners?


Roundtable : Roundtable The roundtable serves two purposes: Discuss the contribution of microfinance and microcredit to poverty eradication Mark the International Year of Microcredit 2005 and the Blue Book project on building inclusive financial sectors