- Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP)
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The Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP) is a consortium of 33 public and private development agencies working together to expand access to financial services for the poor in developing countries. CGAP was created in 1995 by these aid agencies and industry leaders to help create permanent financial services for the poor on a large scale (often referred to as microfinance).
CGAP serves four groups of clients: development agencies; financial institutions including microfinance institutions; government policymakers and regulators; and other service providers, such as auditors and rating agencies. To each of these client groups, CGAP provides specialized services—advisory services, training, research and development, consensus building on standards, and information dissemination.
CGAP is headquartered in Washington, D.C. and operates on an annual budget of $10 million.[1]
Contents
Organization
CGAP is housed at the World Bank, but operates as an independent entity. It has its own governance structure, with a board that includes practitioners and leaders from outside the donor community as well as member representation.[2]
CGAP consists of four interacting components:
- The Consultative Group of Member Donors is the membership and governance body of CGAP.
- The Executive Committee (Excom) of CGAP functions as the organization's executive governing body. The Excom is made up of donor representatives as well as microfinance industry leaders.
- The Investment Committee of CGAP is the fiduciary oversight body that acts on behalf of the Consultative Group.
- The CGAP Staff is the operational arm of CGAP. The staff is divided among four thematic teams and two internal teams.
Membership
The Consultative Group (CG) is the membership and governance body of CGAP. The CG has representatives from all of CGAP's member donors: multilateral agencies, bilateral agencies (development agency and/or ministry), and private foundations.[3]
Multilateral Member Donors
- African Development Bank (AfDB)
- Asian Development Bank (AsDB)
- European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD)
- European Commission (EC)
- European Investment Bank (EIB)
- Inter-American Development Bank (IDB)
- International Finance Corporation (IFC)
- International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD)
- International Labour Organization (ILO)
- United Nations Capital Development Fund
- United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)
- World Bank
Bilateral Member Donors
- Australia: Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID)
- Belgium: Directorate General for Development Cooperation
- Canada: Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA)
- Denmark: Royal Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs
- Finland: Ministry of Foreign Affairs
- France: Agence Française de Développement (AFD); Ministry of Foreign Affairs
- Germany: Die Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ); Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ); Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau (KfW)
- Italy: Ministry of Foreign Affairs (www.esteri.it); Cooperazione Italiana allo Sviluppo (www.cooperazioneallosviluppo.esteri.it)
- Japan: Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC); Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Ministry of Finance; The World Bank Office of the Executive Director for Japan
- Luxembourg: Ministry of Finance; Ministry of Foreign Affairs
- The Netherlands: Ministry of Foreign Affairs
- Norway: Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (NORAD); Ministry of Foreign Affairs
- Spain: Agencia Española de Cooperación Internacional (AECI)
- Sweden: Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida)
- Switzerland: Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation
- United Kingdom: Department for International Development (DFID)
- United States: US Agency for International Development (USAID)
Foundation Member Donors
- Argidius Foundation
- Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
- Ford Foundation
- Michael & Susan Dell Foundation
The Microfinance Gateway
The Microfinance Gateway, a project of CGAP, (www.microfinancegateway.org) is a comprehensive online resource for the global microfinance community. It includes research and publications, original articles, and organization and consultant profiles, as well as microfinance-related news items, announcements, events, and job opportunities.
Information available through the Microfinance Gateway is submitted by microfinance professionals or collected through staff research and is primarily in English. The Microfinance Gateway works with partner organizations in France/Luxembourg (GRET and ADA), Egypt (Sanabel Network), and Costa Rica (INCAE) to host French (french.microfinancegateway.org), Arabic (arabic.microfinancegateway.org), and Spanish affiliate language sites.
One full-time manager and one associate work on the Microfinance Gateway in Washington, DC, and four content managers work from a partner firm in India.
The Microfinance Gateway is a project of CGAP, but provides a platform for a diverse range of voices within the microfinance industry.
References
- ^ "About CGAP". CGAP. http://www.cgap.org/portal/site/CGAP/menuitem.8d0ec8712cb72d1eae6c6210591010a0/. Retrieved 2007-04-23.
- ^ "CGAP Organization". CGAP. http://www.cgap.org/portal/site/CGAP/menuitem.293f229b3f3e461067808010591010a0/. Retrieved 2007-04-23.
- ^ "CGAP Member Donors". CGAP. http://www.cgap.org/portal/site/CGAP/menuitem.1b2e54b01647a51067808010591010a0/. Retrieved 2007-04-23.
External links
Categories:- Microfinance organizations
- Organizations established in 1995
- Poverty
- International development multilaterals
- Organizations based in Washington, D.C.
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