Annotated Bibliography
The article reports Malaysia as a model country in successfully achieving the Millennium Development goals on poverty. It cites the fact that Malaysia reduced the poverty rate from 50% in 1970 to 5% in 2002. The article breaks down the incidence of poverty in Malaysia by ethnic groups, and distributions in rural and urban areas. Moreover, it analyzes successful social entrepreneurship, such as the AIM microfinance, and other governmental efforts in achieving the Millennium Development goal. The article is especially useful because (1) it thoroughly analyzes how Malaysia was able to achieve its goal, and (2) it sets Malaysia’s effort and success as a good example for other countries to follow.
This is a press release that reports the United Nations Development Program(UNDP), in partnership with the Ministry of Entrepreneur and Cooperative Development (MECD) and the Malay Chamber of Commerce Malaysia(MCCM) launched a pilot project aimed at empowering rural-based women in Malaysia with access to capital and skills to become successful entrepreneurs. Specifically, the article introduces the Amanah Ikhtiar Malaysia(AIM) micro credit agency in Malaysia and its successful efforts to provide capital to 490,000 low-income borrowers, of whom 90% are women. This article is useful because it introduces initiatives and sets examples of successful agencies in empowering underprivileged women and helping alleviate global poverty.
CSR Malaysia is a hub for corporate social interest in Malaysia and offers news, event announcements, and social networking opportunities. The site highlights an array of news articles dealing with the environment, community, and ecological systems. This is a crucial resource for Malaysian companies to learn about opportunities to invest in the country across all disciplines of social interest. Furthermore, the site serves the common person by explaining the corporate happenings of the country in simple language.
This competition is in collaboration with the GK3 conference that the Global Knowledge Partnership hosts in Kuala Lumpur. The website offers a basic introduction in defining young social entrepreneurs: Business starters under the age of 30 who have developed innovative ways to make revenues as well as have a positive impact on society. For example, one business called “Downtown KL(see video below)” seeks to help former drug-addicts with opening small shops in downtown Kuala Lumpur in a unique night-time market. This site has been crucial in opening our eyes to the flexibility and creativity that that accompanies social entrepreneurship. Furthermore, the competition is open to social entrepreneurs from anywhere across the globe.
This website gives a broad overview of the picture of poverty in Malaysia and describes how the United Nations is supporting the Malaysian
government’s development solutions. These projects are aimed at efforts to eradicate pockets of extreme poverty, improve gender equality,
reverse the spread of HIV/AIDS, promote and protect human rights and enhance environmental management. Each project has its own set of
goals and is updated to reflect progress and current events.
This website provides in-depth insight on the definition of poverty, causes, how to measure poverty, poverty around the world, and solutions that are aimed at health, education, the economy and government. The many conflicting components of poverty are presented in a clear way that highlights this multi-edged sword. In addition, each of the four solution areas are broken down into parts that all may aid in the cyclical fight against poverty. Although solutions differ from one area to the next, the general framework presented by this website can be applicable in a number of situations.
John D. Conroy chronicles the history of the Amanah Ikhtiar Malaysia (AIM), from its roots as an emulation of the Grameen Bank to its current status as Malaysia’s leading microfinance institution (MFI). Conroy provides a brief description of the difficulties that initially faced AIM including:
· Lack of reporting guidelines that led to dissemination of misinformation
· Poor loan portfolio quality that compromised the bank’s profitability
Conroy argues that while Malaysia’s New Economic Policy has alleviated the effects of poverty throughout the nation, MFIs such as AIM are essential to fully address the issue of persistent “hardcore” poverty in the region. As recently as 2001, however, AIM’s portfolio-at-risk (PAR) ratio, a leading indicator of delinquent loans, has risen as high as 10%. This figure portends an uncertain future for AIM, which must address internal corruption and complacency as well as external ability to collect loans in order to continue serving Malaysia’s extreme poor in the future.
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) published a comprehensive report on the history, evolution, and success of microfinance institutions in the region over the last two decades. The report also outlines a roadmap for prospective entrepreneurs looking to enter the field of microfinance in order to provide financial services to the 180 million people in the region who lack access to capital markets and resources to finance their micro business operations. The report aims first to define microfinance and then discuss how and why nations and governments must promote microfinance as a method of eliminating global poverty. The ADB concludes by outlining a plan to implement and monitor microfinance institutions to ensure effectiveness in reaching the desired market as well as promoting profitability to assure long term solvency.
This website describes the Human Development Index (HDI) which is a measurement that looks at a broader meaning of well-being. The HDI measures poverty by looking at three dimensions of human development: living a long and healthy life (life expectancy), being educated (adult literacy and school enrolment at all levels) and having a decent standard of living (purchasing power parity and income). Malaysia is the specific country being looked at, and its HDI ranks 16th out of 108 developing countries. Overall, the website provides an alternative poverty measurement, talks about important issues relating to well-being such as climate and the importance of building the capabilities of women, and reminds the reader that poverty is multi-dimensional.
This website is a report on the global state of children, focusing on developing countries. It is relevant because today’s children are the next generation to influence the world and they are particularly vulnerable to the effects of poverty. The report provides information about child survival, improvements in healthcare and education, and the existence and need for more community efforts. Statistics are included which cover basic mortality, demographics, economic indicators of mortality, and data about women. The concern is raised that despite progress, the world is not nearly close enough to the Millennium Goals. So while the report is primarily an informational tool it also provides suggestions for getting closer to reaching those goals.
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