22 U.S.C. § 2211c — Poverty measurement methods

Page 686 TITLE 22—FOREIGN RELATIONS AND INTERCOURSE § 2211c § 2211c. Poverty measurement methods The Administrator of the Agency, in consulta- tion with financial intermediaries and other ap- propriate organizations, should have in place at least 1 method for implementing partners to use to assess poverty levels of their current incom- ing or prospective clients. (Pub. L. 87–195, pt. I, § 254, as added Pub. L. 108–484, § 3, Dec. 23, 2004, 118 Stat. 3926; amended Pub. L. 115–428, § 4(d), Jan. 9, 2019, 132 Stat. 5514.) Editorial Notes AMENDMENTS 2019—Pub. L. 115–428 amended section generally. Prior to amendment, section related to development of pov- erty measurement methods and application of methods. § 2211d. Additional authorities Notwithstanding any other provision of law, amounts made available for development assist- ance for micro, small, and medium-sized enter- prises under any provision of law other than this subpart may be provided to further the purposes of this subpart. To the extent assistance de- scribed in the preceding sentence is provided in accordance with such sentence, the Adminis- trator of the Agency shall include, as part of the report required under section 2214 of this title, a detailed description of such assistance. (Pub. L. 87–195, pt. I, § 255, as added Pub. L. 108–484, § 3, Dec. 23, 2004, 118 Stat. 3926; amended Pub. L. 115–428, § 4(e), Jan. 9, 2019, 132 Stat. 5514.) Editorial Notes AMENDMENTS 2019—Pub. L. 115–428 substituted ‘‘development assist- ance for micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises’’ for ‘‘assistance for microenterprise development assist- ance’’ and struck out ‘‘and, to the extent applicable, the information required by paragraphs (1) through (11) of subsection (b) of such section with respect to such assistance’’ after ‘‘of such assistance’’. Division B—Credit Assistance § 2212. Development credits for micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (a) Findings and policy Congress finds and declares that— (1) the development of micro, small, and me- dium-sized enterprises is a vital factor in the stable growth of developing countries and in the development and stability of a free, open, and equitable international economic system; and (2) it is, therefore, in the best interests of the United States to assist the access to finan- cial services and the development of micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises in devel- oping countries and to engage the United States private sector in that process. (b) Program To carry out the policy set forth in subsection (a), the President is authorized to provide assist- ance to increase the availability of financial services to micro, small, and medium-sized en- terprises and households lacking full access to credit and other financial services, including through— (1) loans and guarantees to financial inter- mediaries for the purpose of expanding the availability of savings and credit to poor and low-income households; (2) training programs for financial inter- mediaries in order to enable them to better meet the financial services needs of their cli- ents; and (3) training programs for clients in order to enable them to make better use of credit, in- crease their financial literacy, and to better manage their enterprises to improve their quality of life. (c) Eligibility criteria The Administrator of the Agency shall estab- lish criteria for determining which financial intermediaries described in subsection (b)(1) are eligible to carry out activities, with respect to micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises and households, assisted under this section. Such criteria may include the following: (1) The extent to which the recipients of fi- nancial services from the entity do not have access to the local formal financial sector. (2) The extent to which the recipients of fi- nancial services from the entity are among the poorest people in the country. (3) The extent to which the entity is ori- ented toward working directly with poor women. (4) The extent to which the entity recovers its cost of lending. (5) The extent to which the entity imple- ments a plan to become financially sustain- able. (d) Additional requirement Assistance provided under this section may only be used to support programs for micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises and house- holds and may not be used to support programs not directly related to the purposes described in subsection (b). (e) Procurement provision Assistance may be provided under this section without regard to section 2354(a) of this title. (f) Availability of funds (1) In general Of the amounts authorized to be available to carry out subchapter I of this chapter, there are authorized to be available such sums as may be necessary for each of the fiscal years 2005 through 2009 to carry out this section. (2) Coverage of subsidy costs Amounts authorized to be available under paragraph (1) shall be made available to cover the subsidy cost, as defined in section 661a(5) of title 2, for activities under this section. (Pub. L. 87–195, pt. I, § 256, formerly § 108, as added Pub. L. 98–151, § 101(b)(2), Nov. 14, 1983, 97 Stat. 972; amended Pub. L. 99–83, title III, § 308, Aug. 8, 1985, 99 Stat. 215; Pub. L. 100–418, title II, § 2211, Aug. 23, 1988, 102 Stat. 1335; Pub. L. 106–309, title I, § 106, Oct. 17, 2000, 114 Stat. 1085; Pub. L. 108–31, § 2, June 17, 2003, 117 Stat. 775; renum- bered § 256 and amended Pub. L. 108–484, § 4(a),