MICROCAPITAL EVENT: The Boulder Institute of Microfinance (BI) and the Institute of Development Studies (IDS) in the United Kingdom to Offer a Five-day Training Program Entitled “Integrating Microfinance in Development” at the University of Sussex

Integrating Microfinance in Development

September 1-5, 2008, University of Sussex, Brighton, United Kingdom

The Boulder Institute of Microfinance (BI), a nonprofit organization which grew out of microfinance training programs initiated in 1995, and the Institute of Development Studies (IDS), a research organization connected with the University of Sussex, will jointly host “Integrating Microfinance in Development,” a training program designed to educate practitioners involved in a wide range of development fields on the principles of a sustainable microfinance program and how to incorporate it in their operations.

In addition to microfinance experts from BI and IDS, representatives from the Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP), the United Kingdom’s Department for International Development (DFID), and the University of Bath will also be in attendance to share knowledge. Topics covered will include “Microfinance and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs),” “Gender Issues in Microfinance,” “Social Protection and Microfinance,” and “Microfinance and HIV/AIDs,” among others.

Registration is on-going and is initiated by downloading the Application Form and e-mailing it to info@bouldermft.org along with a down payment of GBP 250, or USD 492. The remaining GBP 1,200 (USD 2,361) must be paid by August 1st, 2008. The total cost is GBP 1,450, or USD 2,852. All conversions to USD are as of June 25th, 2008.

BI was incepted in 2004 and is currently presided over by founder Robert Peck Christen, the Director of Financial Services for the Poor at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (Gates Foundation) and a founder of the MicroBanking Bulletin (MBB), the Microfinance Information eXchange (MIX Market), and the Microfinance Management Institute (MFMI), as stated in his profile on BI’s web site. Mr. Christen was appointed to his position at the Gates Foundation in 2007, as reported by MicroCapital here. He is also the author of multiple publications, one of which MicroCapital reported on here, in October of 2007.

BI’s flagship program, the annual Boulder MFT (to be held in Turin, Italy from July 21st through August 8th), claims over 2,500 alumni from 135 countries, 60 percent of whom are direct practitioners of microfinance. Financial information was not available. BI may be contacted by e-mail at info@bouldermft.org or by phone in the US (+1 303 800 0825) or in Canada (+1 514 509 7168).

Established in 1966, IDS “is home to approximately 100 researchers, 70 knowledge services staff, 65 support staff and about 200 students at any one time.” Microfinance is one of IDS’ seven Research Themes and the institute focuses on the development of social performance management (SPM) practices and systems within the sector. Social performance is considered to be one of the two components necessary to achieve a profitable “double bottom-line”—the other being financial performance—and SPM is an effort to monitor, and make transparent, the social value that a microfinance institution (MFI) has to offer to its clients.

IDS, and its four microfinance team members, have published multiple books, journal articles, and research reports, as listed on their web site. Additionally, IDS runs the Imp-Act Consortium (Imp-Act), a collection of organizations promoting the utilization of SPM at MFIs. Imp-Act maintains the Imp-Act SPM Network, a forum for discussion of SPM and sharing of information between practitioners around the world. At the time of writing, the network had 308 members. IDS reported 2007 total assets of over GBP 6.5 million, or USD 12.9 million (page 1). IDS may be contacted by e-mail at ids@ids.ac.uk, or by phone at +44 (0)1273 606261.