UNDP to use micro-loans in low income areas in the Arab states

A United Nations Development Program (UNDP) press release said a trust fund was launched recently by the UNDP to support people living in low-income communities in the Arab states and grant them micro-loans with the aim of "expanding and starting up local enterprises and other income generation activities."

The release quoted Fawaz Fokeladeh, UNDP assistant administrator and regional director of the bureau for Arab states, as saying that "this is an important initiative for UNDP to fight poverty in the region," hoping others will join the effort and support the fund.

The release added that the fund started with a $ 550,000 contribution from two private donors from the United Arab Emirates.

Eight projects have been selected, each to receive a maximum of $ 50,000. "The initiatives include a bee-keeping cooperative in southern Lebanon and a small-scale fisheries project in Yemen," according to the release.

It pointed out that "other grants will provide micro-credit to vulnerable groups, and especially to women in Djibouti, Jordan, Morocco, Sudan and Tunisia. In the remote Egyptian town of Siwa, a grant will expand animal husbandry activities and the marketing of crops."