Environment E-vent on SPM Network

Today had an interesting discussion about environment and microfinance. Check out the content here: http://spmnetwork.net/group/tbl

New Joint IFC - GRI Publication

IFC sees sustainability reporting as a timely next step to improve transparency and strengthen trust in the private
sector. It is also a management tool that can help companies to identify operational efficiency improvements,
innovate in their products and services, build stronger relationships with stakeholders, enhance reputational
value and, increasingly, attract investors.
IFC would like to see many more of theirclients undertaking GRI-based reporting alongside and as part of
their traditional annual reporting. Companies achieving excellence across all aspects of management are
companies most likely to grow and succeed over the long term.

Click here for the full report (pdf).

New Triodos Facet Publications

See short description below. Both Publications can be found on Triodos Facet website here. 

Risk Management and Sustainability Management: A Handbook for Microfinance Practitioners 2009
Authors: Tom Baur, John Guzowski, Geert Jan Schuite, Triodos Facet, September 2009.

This Handbook on Sustainability and Risk Management is intended to help microfinance institutions by suggesting a practical approach for improving their performance.

Few areas of banking are more important these days than the ability to mange risks. As the sector professionalises, the enviironmental, health and safety impact becomes more relevant to fiancial institutions. Eleven practical tools form the core of this handbook.

Trends in Microfinance
Authors: Stefan Platteau, Hedwig Siewertsen, Triodos Facet , May 2009.

Triodos Facet has looked into the future and found trends in Microfinance for 2010 - 2015. Read about the disappearance of the term microfinance, the entrance of new service providers and the future of self help groups, technology and value chain development in microfinance.  

Microfinance Insights May/June 2009 issue

An interesting article by Micol Guarneri in Microfinance Insights:

Elusive Impact or Concrete Change: How Social Performance Assessment is Helping to Change the Face of Reporting in Microfinance When chasing multiple bottom line returns in microfinance, attaining concrete evidence on social impact can often be cost prohibitive and time-consuming, not to mention difficult to segregate causality. Yet achieving more concrete evidence of MFI social performance is not as elusive as it once seemed. The evolution and importance of social performance management and measurement—for donors, investors and MFIs alike—indicates the growing consensus around treating social performance as a process rather than a static outcome. Micol Guarneri, the Director of the Social Rating Department at MicroFinanza Rating, discusses how social rating, complementary to the traditional financial performance assessment, is emerging as a tool through which an MFI’s social returns may be monitored and even benchmarked against best practice and industry standards.

See here for a link to this and other interesting articles on Microfinance and Impact. By the way: This interesting periodic gives away free 1-yr subscriptions. Check them out!

Social Performance Taskforce New Website

http://www.sptf.info/ is the new platform of the Social Performance task Force.

The Social Performance Task Force consists of over 350 leaders from all over the world from every microfinance stakeholder group: practitioners, donors and investors (multilateral, bilateral, and private), national and regional networks, technical assistance providers, rating agencies, academics and researchers, and others. Created in March 2005, the Task Force has been charged with clearly defining social performance and addressing questions about measuring and managing social performance.

MF and Climate Change: Can MFI's promote sustainable change?

Download the discussion report (see post below) here.

On-line discussion on microfinance and climate change

Hi everybody,
Via this blogpost I would like to draw your attention to an interesting on-line discussion (hosted by MicroLink) about the question "can microfinance promote environmnetal sustainability?". This is the link:
Speaker's Corner 29: Microfinance and Climate Change: Can MFIs Promote Environmental Sustainability?

Here's a summary of day one (of three), by Eugene Ionesco :
'Well, it was a great first day and we have two more to go! Thanks to all of you who contributed and to Dan for his leadership. I think it can be safely said that one of the simplest and yet most profound statements made today is that MFIs must search for “Solutions that fit the local conditions” whether it is solar,biofuels, cash crops or organic foods. One size does not fit all and yet a common, shared vision and goals go a long way to moving us in the direction of sustainability for all. As a starting point for this, I would refer the reader to Generally Accepted Environmental Principles (GAEP) developed in 2004 at a workshop co-hosted by GreenMicrofinance. Another of the threads raised the apparent dilemma that as people become more prosperous they naturally consume more energy and resources. And it is here that the opportunity lies to introduce clean energy production and environmental sustainability if this is part of the MFIs vision and is interwoven into its social performance goals. As part of the answer to this dilemma, one contributor suggested Thomas Friedman’s new book, Hot, Flat and Crowded which I can also recommend. The first half is about the reasons why it is in all our best interest to act and then he goes into the opportunities for solutions that this problem has created. There was a great discussion on the effect of environmental degradation on MFI clients and their ability to repay. It was noted that while there is a large amount of antidotal evidence, there have been very few scholarly studies. There was also a very telling question, “Does anyone of an effective awareness raising and/or behavior change program?” To this question I would refer the reader to the ‘fact sheets’ provided by Triodos, one of which is their ‘Social and Environmental Field Guide for Micro Finance Institutes’. Finally, there was a discussion about the impact of the current worldwide financial instability and its potential impact on MFI clients. I’m not sure this was fully developed as I can see several ways in which the ability of MFIs to raise adequate financial resources to serve their clients might be effected. Please join us again tomorrow as we continue to wrestle with these and other critical questions of our time. "It is not the answer that enlightens, but the question." '

Progress out of Poverty Index

Below some information is copied from the PPI website. Klick on the logo to visit the page with country information directly.

PPI™ by Country

Once a PPI™ is built for a market, it is intended for the public good and is available to all who wish to use it. Grameen Foundation’s collaboration with other key stakeholders within the microfinance industry will ensure that the PPI is available for the greatest number of MFIs that wish to better meet the needs of the poorest members of the communities they serve. There are currently PPIs for Bangladesh, India, Mexico, the Philippines, Haiti, Morocco, Bolivia, Peru and Pakistan. Click on each country to download its PPI and supporting documents.
In partnership with CGAP and the Ford Foundation, Grameen is building PPIs for all of the markets where its partners operate and where a demand exists for the PPI. Grameen Foundation is currently piloting the PPI with network partners in Latin America, Asia and the Middle East/ North Africa region. Organizations outside the Grameen Foundation network are utilizing the PPI in South Africa, India, Pakistan, the Philippines and Bolivia.

Sector Factsheets

Some of the TSF participants have been trained on social and environmental aspects as part of their relationship with FMO. During these trainings, the MFIs learned how to work with so-called Sector Factsheets. These Factsheets contain simple tips for observing social, health and safety and environmental risks and opportunities at client level, and explain how to address these issues with the client, in order to improve the situation.

The Factsheets were developed by Triodos Facet, in part based on our TSF experiences. We've made them available in a simple and accessible way: click here.

Findesa finalist - finished second

During last week's GRI conference in Amsterdam, it was announced at the readers' choice award dinner that Findesa had finished second, in the SME category GRI reporters. An achievement that deserves our congratulations!! Findesa created a wonderful occasion for all TSF participants to be seen and heard on an international platform. The conference proceedings and podcasts of all the sessions can be found at www.globalreporting.org.