ブックタイトル佐藤栄作論文集９～１６

概要

佐藤栄作論文集９～１６

globalization, and the other is to prod and persuade the member states to eliminateinstitutional obstacles hindering the efforts of those groups and their allies to seek tosafeguard their well-being and lives in the face of deepening globalization.Such roles for the UN are increasingly important because a growing number ofstates find themselves unable (and often unwilling) to protect the most vulnerablesegments of their own citizenry against the negative consequences of globalization.In the rest of this essay, therefore, we concentrate on the case of micro-creditprograms. This case will shed some light on the appropriate future role of the UN inthe face of globalization for the following two reasons:? Since these programs aim to eradicate poverty not just in the underdevelopedworld but also in the developed world, the scope of this endeavor is truly global;and ? these programs represent instances where the use of small-scale financialresources goes a long way in helping the victims of globalization and where the UN todate has not been as active as it should have been.THE CASE OF MICRO-CREDIT PROGRAMS? TheGrameenBankMicro-credit (-loans) is by now an established mechanism for alleviating povertyand there exists a wide variety of programs, both NGO-sponsored or privatebanks-sponsored, so much so that it has become difficult to extract their commoncharacteristics, merits, and demerits. 11In what follows, we review the case of theGrameen Bank in Bangladesh, one of the oldest micro-credit programs in the worldand arguably the most successful example of micro-credit grants. Furthermore, theGrameen Bank has served as a model for micro-credit projects for poverty reductionin the developed world as well as in the developing world, and in that sense, it is a68011 This essay uses the terms“microcredit,”“micro-finance,”and“micro-loans”interchangeably, although, strictlyspeaking, they are different from one another.