|
 On the 9th and 10th
of April 2005, the Italian Cooperation in Cairo organized an
international seminar titled "to sort out
poverty: a chance from microcredit”.
The seminar aimed
at presenting the experience of the Italian-Egyptian program called
PAP (Poverty
Alleviation Program) whose microcredit scheme
successfully reached thousands of beneficiaries, comparing it to
similar international practices and enhancing at the same time a
debate on the evolution of microfinance as a tool against poverty,
especially in Egypt.
The event, that
took place under the auspices of H.E. Suzanne Mubarak, saw the
participation of over 250 people and of a good number of international
speakers.
 Between them, in
the opening session, dott. Antonio Loche from the “Comitato
Italiano 2005 Anno del Microcredito”,
Dr. Antonio
Vigilante, UN Country Representative, Governors of Giza and Minia,
Gen. Hasan Hemada and Dr. Sa`ad, Ministers Abuelnaga
and Amina El-Guindi and the Italian
Ambassador to Egypt, H.E. Antonio Badini.
The first day
proceeded with a small ceremony in which some of the beneficiaries
were awarded for their work and the opening of an exhibition of their
products.
On the second day
PAP`s evolution and methodology were explained by
Dr. Amjad Yaaqba, former director of the program. Dr.
Yaaqba`s intervention was followed by an international panel composed
by Dr. Loche,
Dr. Vitali (Giordano
Dell`Amore Foundation, Italy), Mr. El Ashmawi from Sanabel and by
Professor Corsi from Università di Roma and Fondazione Risorsa Donna.
This panel focalized on the frame constituted by the
International Year of Microcredit, on the current situation of
microfinance in Arab countries and on gender programs, introducing the
four workshops that were at the core of the event.
The workshops
focused on:
 During each
workshop the moderators tried to follow the scheme of the whole
seminar, comparing PAP's experiences in each
of these fields with similar international projects: Grameen,
MFIs belonging to the Sanabel network, and so on.
The outputs coming
from the workshops, discussed in plenary session at the end of the
seminar, revealed some fundamental and very interesting key points
that will surely contribute to the current debate on the future of
microfinance.
Proceedings |
