Posted by Micol Pistelli
One of the questions raised in the panel: “Taking stock of microfinance: Does it really help the poor?” held last week at Columbia University was to what extent increased transparency in disclosure of SPTF/MIX social performance indicators will positively impact clients.
The SPTF/MIX social performance indicators, if properly tracked and integrated into an MFI’s operations, can certainly help the institution better meet clients’ needs. The disclosure of such information on a public platform such as MIX Market aims to improve transparency of information and data analysis in the industry, with the ultimate goal of improving allocation of funds towards truly socially-oriented MFIs that best serve the world’s poor.
The purpose of measuring social performance over time is so that MFIs can make internal changes in order to meet client needs. MFIs that have begun to track social performance information such as client retention, poverty level of clients, and clients’ over-indebtedness, and have then used this information to adjust their internal policies and strategies, have already experienced positive changes in their program’s outcomes. Some of these stories have been documented in the SPM Practice Guide, Putting the Social into Performance Management.
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