People all over the world have similar aspirations – to take care of their families, to feed, clothe and shelter them, and to provide their children with opportunities to succeed. In Pakistan, where most people live on less that US$2 / day, such basic aspirations were far fetched until recently. With an enhanced focus on poverty alleviation by the Government and an increasing realization of microfinance’s viability as a tool in achieving this, more and more of Pakistan’s poor have successfully fulfilled some of their dreams of a better future. Recognizing the needs that microfinance can fulfill and opportunities that it can present, Citi Pakistan is working with leading microfinance institutions (MFIs), microfinance networks and investors as partners to develop the local microfinance sector and to contribute towards expansion of access to financial services across the country.
What is the Citi Microentrepreneurship Awards? In 2005 Citi Foundation collaborated with the U.N. during the ‘Year of Microcredit’ to implement the Global Microentrepreneurship Awards (GMA) program in 30 countries including Pakistan. The GMA exceeded all expectations and brought substantial global attention to the role that microfinance plays as an effective poverty alleviation tool. As one of the leading supporters of microfinance initiatives around the world, Citi Foundation was pleased to institute the program in Pakistan and 23 other countries.
The objective of the Citi Microentrepreneurship Awards program is to illustrate and promote the effective role that microfinance plays in poverty alleviation around the world. In particular, the program seeks to generate recognition for the extraordinary contributions that individual microentrepreneurs have made to the economic sustainability of their families as well as their communities.
In Pakistan, the program has been implemented for 3 years in a row, in collaboration with the Pakistan Poverty Alleviation Fund (PPAF). In 2007 more than 320 nominations from across the country were received and 40 award winners collectively took home more than US$25000 in prize money. In the interest of transparency, the program is traditionally overseen by a ‘National Advisory Council’ that includes opinion-leaders from Government, business and the development sectors.
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