118 STAT. 3924 PUBLIC LAW 108–484—DEC. 23, 2004 ‘‘SEC. 252. AUTHORIZATION; IMPLEMENTATION; TARGETED ASSIST- ANCE. ‘‘(a) AUTHORIZATION.—The President is authorized to provide assistance on a non-reimbursable basis for programs in developing countries to increase the availability of credit, savings, and other services to microfinance and microenterprise clients lacking full access to capital, training, technical assistance, and business development services, through— ‘‘(1) assistance for the purpose of expanding the availability of credit, savings, and other financial and non-financial services to microfinance and microenterprise clients; ‘‘(2) assistance for the purpose of training, technical assist- ance, and business development services for microenterprises to enable them to make better use of credit, to better manage their enterprises, to conduct market analysis and product development for expanding domestic and international sales, particularly to United States markets, and to increase their income and build their assets; ‘‘(3) capacity-building for microfinance and microenterprise institutions in order to enable them to better meet the credit, savings, and training needs of microfinance and microenterprise clients; and ‘‘(4) policy, regulatory programs, and research at the country level that improve the environment for microfinance and microenterprise clients and institutions that serve the poor and very poor. ‘‘(b) IMPLEMENTATION.— ‘‘(1) OFFICE OF MICROENTERPRISE DEVELOPMENT.—There is established within the Agency an office of microenterprise development, which shall be headed by a Director who shall be appointed by the Administrator and who should possess technical expertise and ability to offer leadership in the field of microenterprise development. ‘‘(2) ADDITIONAL PROVISIONS.— ‘‘(A) USE OF IMPLEMENTING PARTNER ORGANIZATIONS.— Assistance under this section shall emphasize the use of implementing partner organizations that best meet the requirements of subparagraph (C). ‘‘(B) USE OF CENTRAL FUNDING MECHANISMS.— ‘‘(i) PROGRAM.—In order to ensure that assistance under this title is distributed effectively and efficiently, the office shall also seek to implement a program of central funding under which assistance is administered directly by the office, including through targeted core support for microfinance and microenterprise networks and other practitioners. ‘‘(ii) FUNDING.—Of the amount made available to carry out this subtitle for a fiscal year, not less than $25,000,000 should be made available to carry out clause (i). ‘‘(C) EFFICIENCY AND COST-EFFECTIVENESS.—Assistance under this section shall meet high standards of efficiency, cost-effectiveness, and sustainability and shall especially provide the greatest possible resources to the poor and very poor. When administering assistance under this sec- tion, the Administrator shall— Establishment. President. 22 USC 2211a. VerDate 11-MAY-2000 13:54 Nov 10, 2005 Jkt 029194 PO 00000 Frm 00458 Fmt 6580 Sfmt 6581 C:\STATUTES\2004\29194PT4.001 APPS10 PsN: 29194PT4
�
