SPECIAL REPORT: e-MFP’s Microfinance & Environment Action Group Focuses on Quantitative Measures

As part of the first day of the European Microfinance Platform’s (e-MFP’s) European Microfinance Week, e-MFP’s Microfinance & Environment Action Group met today to elaborate its plan for the next two years. Marion Allet of the Paris-based Participatory Microfinance Group for Africa (PAMIGA) led the group in a set of exercises to explore the Action Group’s three areas of focus: (1) developing a training model for green microfinance; (2) establishing indicators to track client impacts resulting from green microfinance; and (3) improving its Green Index to be more quantitative and align more closely with indicators from other organizations such as rating agencies and the US-based nonprofit Microfinance Information Exchange (MIX).

The Action Group began working to develop quantitative green-microfinance indicators in response to feedback received from microfinance institutions (MFIs). As part of this effort, it recently collaborated with MIX to collect data from 87 MFIs. An analysis of this data is due to be published shortly.

The Action Group’s Green Index is incorporated into SPI4, the fourth version of the social performance indicators promulgated by French NGO CERISE (Comité d’Echanges, de Réflexion et d’Information sur les Systèmes d’Epargne-crédit).

This meeting was one in a series of Action Group meetings held in Luxembourg today. On November 19, Bob Summers, the publisher and editor of MicroCapital, will moderate the plenary that will open the two days of traditional conference sessions that form the bulk of European Microfinance Week.

This story is part of a sponsored series on European Microfinance Week, which is held each November by e-MFP, a 125-member network located in Luxembourg. MicroCapital is reporting live from the event.

Do you know that MicroCapital publishes the MicroCapital Monitor newspaper each month? Find out more at https://www.microcapital.org/products-page/.

Similar Posts: