Social Performance Indicators Blog

Social Responsibility to the Community: Improving Workplace Safety in Egypt

Posted by: Richard Carothers, PPIC-Work project and President of Partners in Technology Exchange Ltd.

Even items in a small family-owned restaurant can cause significant injuries, especially to young workers

In a previous post, “Defining Social Responsibility to the Community: Occupational Safety and Health,” guest contributor Dr. Richard Rinehart outlined some of the ways in which hazards might present themselves in businesses supported by microloans. In this post, guest contributor Richard Carothers explores an example of how an MFI can assist in improving workplace safety.

The PPIC-Work project, working with the Egyptian Association for Community Initiatives and Development (EACID), has begun to develop a pragmatic approach for improving workplace safety that can be incorporated into routine visits by loan officers. Dual purpose loans provide the basic support for the business as well as additional funds to cover the costs of improving workplace safety.

Prioritizing Women in Middle Eastern Microfinance: Jordan’s Microfund for Women

Posted by: Taea Calcut

Microfund for Women staff discuss operations in a meeting

Interview with:
Nina Robertson, Marketing and Non-Financial Services Manager, Microfund For Women

Since its inception in 1994, the Microfund for Women (MFW) in Jordan has assisted microentrepreneurs - and in particular, women - to improve and expand their enterprises through a range of financial and non-financial services.  In this interview with MIX, MFW Marketing and Non-Financial Services Manager Nina Robertson details how MFW prioritizes the hiring and skills development of female staff and provides trainings to bolster the business acumen of female clients, all while operating in a country where women’s participation in the labor force remains among the lowest in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region.

MIX: MFW’s Board and staff feature more women on average than any of the other 13 MENA MFIs reporting social performance data to MIX. For example, 56% of your Board is composed of women while the average for MENA is 26%. Likewise, 73% of your staff is female, with the majority of both management and loan officer positions filled by women, while the average for the region is 47%. What are some factors that have contributed to women being so widely represented among MFW leadership and personnel?

Ms. Robertson: MFW does not have a quota for female staff; however, it is our intention to employ more women than men for a number of reasons. First, and perhaps most importantly, our mission is to empower women economically and socially. Therefore, we strive to achieve our mission by not only targeting female clients but also by ensuring that a majority of women are represented across all levels of our staff. Second, in the cultural climate in which we are operating, it is preferable that our female clients are served by female staff. Finally, hiring women enables us to gauge the real needs of the women we serve, build strong working relationships with them, and develop carefully targeted, gender-sensitive products and services.

Working with MFIs: 3 Network Agendas for Social Performance

Posted by: Micol Pistelli

A microfinance client of SKS, an MFI in the MicroFinance Network

Following posts on Tuesday and Wednesday by guest contributors Tomas Rodriguez (REDCAMIF) and Jack Burga (CRS-Project MISION), we asked two regional networks, Sanabel and MFC, as well as the international network MFN to share their social performance agendas. Here is a summary of their key points.

Nadine El Leissy, Project Coordinator at Sanabel: The Microfinance Network for Arab Countries (Sanabel) has been involved in social performance management (SPM) advocacy since 2007, when it launched its first SPM project in cooperation with MFC and funded by Oxfam Novib. The project’s key milestones included training and certifying Arab trainers and senior representatives on the SPM course, training and certifying Arab trainers on conducting social audits, and completing 10 social audits for member MFIs. A 'lessons learned' report summarizing the project’s key findings is available on the Sanabel website.

Sanabel recently launched the second phase of its SPM project, which is intended as a continuation of the first phase and will be directed specifically towards action planning and streamlining of SPM principles within the operations of capable and interested Sanabel members, as well as developing, testing, and disseminating useful SPM tools.

Good Reporting Practices: The Role of Networks

Posted by: Micol Pistelli

MFIs affiliated with the ACCION Latin America Network received the 2009 Social Performance Reporting Award for achieving a 100% report rate on social performance.

Experience has shown that the microfinance institutions (MFIs) most likely to report on social performance are those affiliated with networks active in promoting social performance management and standards.  ACCION Network for Latin America leads the pack with 100% of its affiliates reporting to MIX.  At the country level, Asociación Nicaragüense de Instituciones de Microfinanza (ASOMIF; part of Red Centroamericana de Microfinanza [REDCAMIF]) has achieved the best results – with over half its affiliates providing on social performance data to MIX, Nicaragua now ranks as the top reporting country! Microfinance Center (MFC) and Sanabel have made remarkable efforts as well, having respectively translated the MIX social performance report into Russian and Arabic and promoted reporting among their affiliates. As a result, MIX has received 42 reports from the Eastern Europe and Central Asia region and 20 reports from Middle East and North Africa region.  Finally, Red Argentina de Instituciones de Microcredito (RADIM) and Microfinance Network (MFN) have also achieved good outreach, with over half their affiliates submitting data on social performance.

This week, the Social Performance Indicators Blog will focus on the role of networks and their vision and efforts towards disseminating information about social performance and promoting transparency among their affiliates. Stay tuned for a related guest post by Tomás Rodríguez Alas, MISION Program Coordinator for REDCAMIF.