At the request of the Summit organizers, Chris Dunford has written and will present a major new paper at the Microcredit Global Summit in Halifax, Canada, November 12-15, 2006. The paper, "Evidence of Microfinance's Contributions to Achieving the Millennium Development Goals," presents evidence that microfinance-particularly when provided to relatively poorer women-increases incomes and savings, improves nutrition and health, and empowers women. The paper also concludes that many microfinance programs are reaching large numbers of the very poor while fully covering their costs. The paper is even more optimistic when looking toward the future, saying that, if and when good-quality studies of their impacts are carried out, it is likely the body of positive evidence of impact will grow and become more and more compelling. The Summit will be the largest gathering of top leaders in the field of microfinance in years.