of the United States Agency for International Devel-
opment;
(3) to support and develop the capacity of Unit-
ed States and indigenous nongovernmental organiza-
tion intermediaries to provide credit, savings, and
training services to microentrepreneurs;
(4) to increase the amount of assistance de-
voted to credit activities designed to reach the poor-
est sector in developing countries, and to improve
the access of the poorest, particularly women, to
microenterprise credit in developing countries; and
(5) to encourage the United States Agency for
International Development to provide global leader-
ship in promoting microenterprise for the poorest
among bilateral and multilateral donors.
SEC. 4. MICRO- AND SMALL ENTERPRISE DEVELOPMENT
CREDITS.
Section 108 of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961
(22 U.S.C. 2151f) is amended to read as follows:
‘‘SEC. 108. MICRO- AND SMALL ENTERPRISE DEVELOPMENT
CREDITS.
‘‘(a) FINDINGS AND POLICY.—The Congress finds
and declares that—
‘‘(1) the development of micro- and small enter-
prise, including cooperatives, is a vital factor in the
stable growth of developing countries and in the de-
velopment and stability of a free, open, and equi-
table international economic system;
‘‘(2) it is, therefore, in the best interests of the
United States to assist the development of the pri-
vate sector in developing countries and to engage the
United States private sector in that process;
‘‘(3) the support of private enterprise can be
served by programs providing credit, training, and
technical assistance for the benefit of micro- and
small enterprises; and
‘‘(4) programs that provide credit, training, and
technical assistance to private institutions can serve
as a valuable complement to grant assistance pro-
vided for the purpose of benefiting micro- and small
private enterprise.
‘‘(b) PROGRAM.—To carry out the policy set forth in
subsection (a), the President is authorized to provide as-
sistance to increase the availability of credit to micro- and
small enterprises lacking full access to credit, including
through—
‘‘(1) loans and guarantees to credit institutions
for the purpose of expanding the availability of cred-
it to micro- and small enterprises;
‘‘(2) training programs for lenders in order to
enable them to better meet the credit needs of
micro- and small entrepreneurs; and
‘‘(3) training programs for micro- and small en-
trepreneurs in order to enable them to make better
use of credit and to better manage their enterprises.
‘‘(c) ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA.—The Administrator of
the United States Agency for International Development
shall establish criteria for determining which entities de-
scribed in subsection (b) are eligible to carry out activities,
with respect to microenterprises, assisted under this sec-
tion. Such criteria may include the following:
‘‘(1) The extent to which the recipients of credit
from the entity do not have access to the local for-
mal financial sector.
‘‘(2) The extent to which the recipients of credit
from the entity are among the poorest people in the
country.
‘‘(3) The extent to which the entity is oriented
toward working directly with poor women.
‘‘(4) The extent to which the entity recovers its
cost of lending to the poor.
‘‘(5) The extent to which the entity implements
a plan to become financially sustainable.’’.
SEC. 5. MICROENTERPRISE DEVELOPMENT GRANT ASSIST-
ANCE.
Chapter 1 of part I of the Foreign Assistance Act
of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2151 et seq.) is amended by adding
at the end the following new section:
‘‘SEC. 129. MICROENTERPRISE DEVELOPMENT GRANT AS-
SISTANCE.
‘‘(a) AUTHORIZATION.—(1) In carrying out this part,
the Administrator of the United States Agency for Inter-
national Development is authorized to provide grant as-
sistance for programs of credit and other assistance for
microenterprises in developing countries.
‘‘(2) Assistance authorized under paragraph (1) shall
be provided through organizations that have a capacity to
develop and implement microenterprise programs, includ-
ing particularly—
‘‘(A) United States and indigenous private and
voluntary organizations;
‘‘(B) United States and indigenous credit
unions and cooperative organizations; or
‘‘(C) other indigenous governmental and non-
governmental organizations.
‘‘(3) Approximately one-half of the credit assistance
authorized under paragraph (1) shall be used for poverty
lending programs, including the poverty lending portion
of mixed programs. Such programs—
‘‘(A) shall meet the needs of the very poor
members of society, particularly poor women; and
‘‘(B) should provide loans of $300 or less in
1995 United States dollars to such poor members of
society.
‘‘(4) The Administrator should continue support for
mechanisms that—
‘‘(A) provide technical support for field mis-
sions;
‘‘(B) strengthen the institutional development
of the intermediary organizations described in para-
graph (2); and
‘‘(C) share information relating to the provision
of assistance authorized under paragraph (1) be-
tween such field missions and intermediary organiza-
tions.
‘‘(b) MONITORING SYSTEM.—In order to maximize
the sustainable development impact of the assistance au-
thorized under subsection (a)(1), the Administrator shall
establish a monitoring system that—
‘‘(1) establishes performance goals for such as-
sistance and expresses such goals in an objective and
quantifiable form, to the extent feasible;
‘‘(2) establishes performance indicators to be
used in measuring or assessing the achievement of
the goals and objectives of such assistance; and
‘‘(3) provides a basis for recommendations for
adjustments to such assistance to enhance the sus-
tainable development impact of such assistance, par-
ticularly the impact of such assistance on the very
poor, particularly poor women.’’.
SEC. 6. MULTILATERAL COOPERATION WITH THE INTER-
NATIONAL FUND FOR AGRICULTURAL DE-
VELOPMENT.
(a) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds the following:
(1)(A) The International Fund for Agricultural
Development (‘‘IFAD’’) has as its mission serving
the poorest of the poor in rural areas.
(B) IFAD has had two decades of experience in
assisting the economic development of the rural
poor.
(2) IFAD has been a significant supporter of
microenterprise and other microfinance activities for
the rural poor almost since its inception and it was
the first international institution to assist the
Grameen Bank.
(3) IFAD can make a significant contribution
to developing a global network of sustainable micro-
enterprise and other microfinance institutions which
serve the very poor through support for nongovern-
mental organizations and other community-based
microcredit institutions.
(b) SENSE OF THE CONGRESS.—It is the sense of
the Congress that—
(1) the United States Agency for International
Development, in carrying out sections 108 and 129
of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, as added by
sections 4 and 5 of this Act, respectively, shall seek
to cooperate with IFAD in order to compliment and
expand the activities of IFAD, especially with re-
spect to institutional development; and
(2) the United States should continue to sup-
port and contribute to the activities of IFAD, espe-
cially activities related to microenterprise and micro-
finance, including the Microfinance Capacity Build-
ing Grant Initiative.
SEC. 7. UNITED NATIONS DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM’S
MICROSTART PROGRAM.
It is the sense of the Congress that—
(1) the Microstart Program established by the
United Nations Development Program (UNDP) rep-
resents an important new initiative; and