[PASSED] Microcredit and Microgrants

by **Glen-Rhodes** » Tue Apr 20, 2010 2:52 pm

Microcredit and Microgrants
Category: Free Trade | Strength: Mild

BELIEVING that through focused initiatives and international cooperation, poverty and suffering can be ended,

NOTICING that microfinance allows the impoverished access to much-needed financial assistance,

RECOGNIZING that those living in poverty may be targeted by unfair, deceptive, and fraudulent lending practices,

SEEKING to protect those persons from predatory lending through specialized, safe credit opportunities,

The World Assembly therefore

DEFINES microcredit as the extension of loans for small sums of money, by lenders to those in poverty, for the purpose of sustaining livelihood and encouraging entrepreneurship;

DEFINES microgrant as a gift of a small sum of money, for the purpose of sustaining livelihood and encouraging entrepreneurship;

DEFINES solidarity lending as practice of lending microcredit collectively to a group of persons, to decrease risk for lenders by increasing the probability of debt repayment;

DEFINES a defaulted loan as one that the borrower has failed to make scheduled debt payments for at least a year;

DEFINES borrower insolvency as the inability of a borrower to make scheduled debt payments, after all reasonable payment plans have been tried;

ENCOURAGES nations to strive to eliminate poverty through microcredit, social welfare, and other forms of assistance directed at the impoverished;

ESTABLISHES the World Microcredit Foundation (WMF) as a global resource for microcredit lenders and the world’s impoverished persons, which is tasked with establishing WMF chapters in willing nations and ensuring the safety and efficiency of microcredit by:
- Determining credible, honest, and fair microcredit lenders and authorizing such lenders to participate in the WMF initiative, a global effort to provide microcredit and stimulate entrepreneurship;
- Forming lending standards to which all authorized WMF lenders are bound, and routinely inspecting the practices and finances of authorized WMF lenders;
- Disseminating information about WMF lenders, the WMF initiative, and microcredit in general, to microcredit lenders and borrowers;
- Educating the general populace about the safe and responsible use of credit;
- Working with borrowers to ensure the repayment of loans;
- Reimbursing lenders the balance of the principle investment in cases of defaulted loans and borrower insolvency;

CLARIFYING that the WMF shall not be the originator of any loans;

ENCOURAGES WMF lenders to practice solidarity lending, believing it to be a building block of successful microcredit lending;

ENCOURAGES nations with areas of large numbers of impoverished citizens to inquire about and establish WMF chapters in those areas;

ENCOURAGES credit lenders to research and participate in the WMF initiative;

ESTABLISHES the Microgrant Institute as a subset of the WMF, which shall:
- Accept monetary donations from individuals, governments, organizations, corporations, or other entities;
- Determine individuals living in extreme poverty who are too risk-averse to seek out a loan or have been denied access to microcredit;
- Review applications and determining if those individuals genuinely require assistance;
- Distribute a microgrant, through the monies obtained through donations, to those persons, for the purpose of sustaining livelihood and encouraging entrepreneurship.

Dr. Bradford William Castro

Ambassador-at-Large,
Permanent Chief of Mission for World Assembly affairs,
the Commonwealth of Glen-Rhodes

by **Charlotte Ryberg** » Wed Apr 21, 2010 12:48 pm

- Educating the general populace about the safe and responsible use of credit;

This would be considered to be a improvement to the draft, honoured ambassador. I have taken this draft seriously for consideration.

We also note the vanishing of the IMF typo. That is a good thing.

Oh, and just to be on the safe side:

BELIEVING that through focused initiatives and international cooperation, poverty and suffering can be ended;

NOTICING that microfinance allows the impoverished access to much-needed financial assistance;

RECOGNIZING that those living in poverty may be targeted by unfair, deceptive, and fraudulent lending practices;

SEEKING to protect those persons from predatory lending through specialized, safe credit opportunities;

The World Assembly therefore,

Yours etc,

by **Glen-Rhodes** » Sat Apr 24, 2010 10:45 am

I will submit this for a test run later today, so if there are any delegations wishing to comment, now would be the time.

Dr. Bradford William Castro

Ambassador-at-Large,
Permanent Chief of Mission for World Assembly affairs,
the Commonwealth of Glen-Rhodes

by **Charlotte Ryberg** » Sat Apr 24, 2010 10:49 am

Apart from our "safe side" suggestions, that should be it, Dr. Castro.

Ms. Sarah Harper

Pencil-Chewing Delegate to the World Assembly,
The Mind of Charlotte Ryberg

by **Diatraba** » Sat Apr 24, 2010 10:57 am

ah - I presume that this is version two of the same resolution that was drafted, submitted and defeated about three months ago? In which case:

a) I see no change
b) In light of current economic troubles, I am wholeheartedly supporting this Resolution

by **Sionis Prioratus** » Sat Apr 24, 2010 11:06 am

Glen-Rhodes wrote:I will submit this for a test run later today, so if there are any delegations wishing to comment, now would be the time.

Oh yes, indeed. This time it would be nice if Your Most Sublime & Extolled Holiness would actually read the proposal, before deluding yourself that the proposal queue is some kind of sewer.

Respectfully yours,

by **Glen-Rhodes** » Sat Apr 24, 2010 11:16 am

Diatraba wrote:a) I see no change

Very little change was needed, to be clear. But there are some changes:

Dr. Bradford William Castro

Ambassador-at-Large,
Permanent Chief of Mission for World Assembly affairs,
the Commonwealth of Glen-Rhodes

by **Bears Armed** » Sat Apr 24, 2010 11:34 am

"So the WA itself is not to be a source of loans -- which makes sense, I agree -- but is to hand out grants to people who'd prefer those instead? Bah, my government's vote will be "Against", at least unless and until you include a clause setting a suitable upper limit for the total sum that could be disbursed in this way per year... which I seriously suggest should not exceed 01% of the Assembly's budget.
"Incidentally, I would suggest adding another option alongside the loans, too: There are some cultures within which the payment of interest is taboo, and where equivalent arrangements therefore include instead a period of shared ownership of the resources involved which the person being helped then "buys" from the person or organisation who's supplying the funds at a high enough price to give the latter a comparable profit to the one that they'd have gained on an interest-paying loan for the same investment..."

Borrin o Redwood,
Chairbear, Bears Armed Mission at the World Assembly
for
The High Council of Clans,
The Confederated Clans of the Free Bears of Bears Armed.

by **Glen-Rhodes** » Sat Apr 24, 2010 12:12 pm

Bears Armed wrote:"So the WA itself is not to be a source of loans -- which makes sense, I agree -- but is to hand out grants to people who'd prefer those instead? Bah, my government's vote will be "Against", at least unless and until you include a clause setting a suitable upper limit for the total sum that could be disbursed in this way per year... which I seriously suggest should not exceed 01% of the Assembly's budget.

My stance on placing a ceiling on the distribution of grants still has not changed. I would like to keep the grant initiative, but I am open to other sources of funds, like private donations. My only concern is that those donations may not be able to cover the demand for grants.

Bears Armed wrote:"Incidentally, I would suggest adding another option alongside the loans, too: There are some cultures within which the payment of interest is taboo, and where equivalent arrangements therefore include instead a period of shared ownership of the resources involved which the person being helped then "buys" from the person or organisation who's supplying the funds at a high enough price to give the latter a comparable profit to the one that they'd have gained on an interest-paying loan for the same investment..."

I'm not sure how to put that explicitly into law, but I do not think that scenario is incompatible with the WMF initiative. The regulation of interest rates is only to prevent them from becoming too high, not to prevent them from becoming too low. The lending standards devised by the WMF are not statutorily required to be global, either. So, the WMF should easily be able to blend in with whatever cultural rules about credit and loans apply, while still preventing harmful practices. For instance, the WMF could prevent lenders in the culture you've described from gaining an unfairly proportioned profit by selling the shared resources to the borrower at falsely inflated rates.

Dr. Bradford William Castro

Ambassador-at-Large,
Permanent Chief of Mission for World Assembly affairs,
the Commonwealth of Glen-Rhodes

by **New Rockport** » Sun Apr 25, 2010 7:45 pm

"Microgrant Institute" sounds a bit boring. How about renaming it the "Global Initiative Making Microgrants Everywhere?"

by **Sionis Prioratus** » Sun Apr 25, 2010 8:35 pm

New Rockport wrote:"Microgrant Institute" sounds a bit boring. How about renaming it the "Global Initiative Making Microgrants Everywhere?"

In keeping with the overall spirit & quality of the text, we would suggest "Supporting Honourable Initiatives Today"

Respectfully submitted,

by **Quadrimmina** » Sun Apr 25, 2010 9:54 pm

The economic recession in our country has brought the Republic of Quadrimmina in full support of this legislation.

by **Charlotte Ryberg** » Mon Apr 26, 2010 6:14 am

New Rockport wrote:"Microgrant Institute" sounds a bit boring. How about renaming it the "Global Initiative Making Microgrants Everywhere?"

I think the "Microgrant Institute" should do fine honoured ambassador, at least it's a name we won't regret later... semi-colon, closing parenthesis.

Yours etc,

by **Glen-Rhodes** » Mon Apr 26, 2010 5:31 pm

I have changed the funding mechanism for the Microgrant Institute. My original thoughts were that microgrants would not be a major source of capital, which is why is it tacked on at the end of the resolution, rather than being a prominent component. I feel that it is likely that there are enough altruistic donators in the vast worlds, that there shouldn't be any significant shortage of funds. Upon Ambassador Redwood's comments, I believe this is ready for submission.

Dr. Bradford William Castro

Ambassador-at-Large,
Permanent Chief of Mission for World Assembly affairs,
the Commonwealth of Glen-Rhodes

Sionis Prioratus wrote:In keeping with the overall spirit & quality of the text, we would suggest "Supporting Honourable Initiatives Today".

OOC: If the only thing you're capable of offering is a thinly-veiled flame-bait, please don't post.

by **Welfare Queens** » Mon Apr 26, 2010 6:19 pm

Oh, the joy! We, the Welfare Queens, wholeheartedly endorse this legislation!

Welfare Queens everywhere jump in joy! ...as another source of government money, with not a really that serious mandate to give it back is available!

Thank you World Assembly, for more free money to us, with even less work!

by **Glen-Rhodes** » Mon Apr 26, 2010 6:26 pm

Welfare Queens wrote:Oh, the joy! We, the Welfare Queens, wholeheartedly endorse this legislation!

Welfare Queens everywhere jump in joy! ...as another source of government money, with not a really that serious mandate to give it back is available!

Thank you World Assembly, for more free money to us, with even less work!

OOC: Would be funny if (a) it was actually 'government money' and (b) the money would actually be able to go to buying nice cars, manicures, pearls, etc etc... let alone to people in nations that even have those things for sale! ;-) You're really making a stretch, here.

by **Charlotte Ryberg** » Tue Apr 27, 2010 1:22 am

In my opinion there is no need to go about defining or determining every bit of this quality, carefully planned and well-written proposal. I think Dr. Castro has pretty much done everything that's possible. I'm ready when you are, honoured ambassador.

by **Welfare Queens** » Tue Apr 27, 2010 1:44 am

Charlotte Ryberg wrote:In my opinion there is no need to go about defining or determining every bit of this quality, carefully planned and well-written proposal. I think Dr. Castro has pretty much done everything that's possible. I'm ready when you are, honoured ambassador.

Yo, indeed! I'm also ready wiff ya, Glenrhodes an' Charlote! We need dat fat money already!! How be I suppose ta pay da rent an' take care o' muh ma fuckin nine lil' bastards? I'd git child support, if I only knew who da fathers iz. Hopefully dere'sdis here World assembly, ta make up fo' muh ma fuckin mistakes. I won't do it ag'in, I promise! otay buh-weet

by **Ardchoille** » Tue Apr 27, 2010 5:40 am

OOC: Players are reminded that use of more than one nation in a discussion thread can give an unbalanced view of the level of support for or opposition to a proposal, and is therefore ~~not cricket~~ discouraged.

by **Glen-Rhodes** » Thu Apr 29, 2010 1:41 pm

Submitted for a test run.

by **Charlotte Ryberg** » Thu Apr 29, 2010 2:21 pm

Glen-Rhodes wrote:Submitted for a test run.

Got it, Dr. Castro. Good luck on it reaching quorum!

Yours etc,

by **Virtualila** » Thu Apr 29, 2010 3:04 pm

Virtualila will refuse to support this bill if it should reach quorum. As we said during the last attempt, we believe that the solution to fighting poverty is not through the installation of more credit, as it is oftentimes credit that places these unfortunate individuals in the position of poverty in the first place.

by **Charlotte Ryberg** » Fri Apr 30, 2010 3:11 am

Virtualila wrote:Virtualila will refuse to support this bill if it should reach quorum. As we said during the last attempt, we believe that the solution to fighting poverty is not through the installation of more credit, as it is oftentimes credit that places these unfortunate individuals in the position of poverty in the first place.

There are provisions in this proposal for promoting responsible lending, and there is always an option for lenders to give out grants only, which does not need paying back.

by **Glen-Rhodes** » Sat May 01, 2010 8:32 pm

OOC: I don't suppose anybody kept a list of delegates that voted for or approved last time? Thought I did, but I guess I didn't.. :\

by **Knootoss** » Sun May 02, 2010 6:43 am

We can tentatively support this, despite it's somewhat fluffy language.
-Aram Koopman
Knootian Ambassador to the World Assembly

[PASSED] Microcredit and Microgrants

[PASSED] Microcredit and Microgrants

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