‘Hope for Poorest of Poor’

Nowhere is the effectiveness of IFAD more evident than at the Grameen Bank in Bangladesh. Subsidized largely by IFAD, this bank has given small loans to more than 58,000 peasants who were considered “nonviable, landless poor.” The bank boasts a 98% repayment rate of the $800,000 loaned in the past three years, a record that puts commercial banks to shame.

This IFAD project has demonstrated the ability to change the economic structure within the poorest communities and give these people tangible assets. The replenishment of its funding is long overdue.

ANNA BRAND

Simi Valley