Since I am unfortunately unable to attend the Opening Ceremony of the Conference “Financial Institutions and the Development of Microcredit”, I wish through this message to express to all those present my appreciation for this initiative and the hopes I place on the results of your work. I firmly believe in the potential for change that Microcredit represents for large sectors of Portuguese society, still strongly evinced by inequalities, lack of opportunities and cases of social exclusion that cannot leave us indifferent.

I elected as one of the priorities of my mandate as President of the Republic the launching of the bases of a civic commitment for social inclusiveness that may confer greater sustainability and effectiveness to the public and private efforts which aim to overcome these social issues.

When doing so, I was aware of the challenges and blockages that such issues place on the development of a fairer and more equitable society that will not exclude a large number of Portuguese from the benefits of the creation of wealth and of economic growth.

I was equally certain that the efforts necessary to materialize this ambition could not continue focused on the State’s initiative, on systems of social protection, on the traditional redistribution policies or on charitable or philanthropic actions.

My belief is that this battle concerns us all, that it is urgent to appeal to all Portuguese, whether individually or through enterprises or citizen’s organizations, to contribute with their part, however small, towards this national objective to build a socially fairer and more cohesive society.

I have also expressed the opinion that this effort and this commitment will only fructify if we change the sense of social policies and the philosophy that underlies the models that sustain the social sector.

When we refer to the poor and the excluded, we refer to people, to citizens who have been denied the minimum conditions for survival, dignity and integration into collective living, to whom the right to show what they are capable of and to build a project that allows them to return to the full status of citizenship, cannot be refused.

It is fundamental that we regard these people as a potential for the creation of wealth, for active participation in society, and that they themselves are the main performers in their procedure for inclusion.

It is for this reason that we refer to a new generation of social policies, based upon the principle of active inclusiveness, where, as relevant as a subsidy or a donation, is the possibility to have access to the opportunity to share in the process of creation of wealth, and in active and responsible participation in the building of a society with improved welfare and progress.

The fundamental heritage of Mohammed Yunus, through the greatly successful experience of the Grameen Bank and the global dissemination of Microcredit, is precisely its contribution to change from a model of sustainability of the social sector, traditionally identified with a donation economy and personal dependence, to a model that creates opportunities, develops business, creates employment and develops a new logic of appropriation and distribution of wealth.

Although a remedy with a high potential of inclusiveness it equally permits obtaining more agile and effective answers to situations of unemployment and of difficulty in integration in the labour market, dignifying the contribution of the socially excluded, and promoting a culture of initiative and entrepreneurism which is so lacking in Portuguese society.

As President of the Republic and a citizen I wish to vividly express my recognition and incentive to the National Association of the Right to Credit, to the financial institutions associated to this project and to the public and private institutions that contribute towards this near utopia, to become a day to day experience of success and an ever more promising future for many Portuguese. 

Aníbal Cavaco Silva