Microfinance Centre (MFC) is a grass-root network of 110 member institutions that play an active role in shaping the microfinance industry in the Europe and Central Asia (ECA) region.
Members range from banks, non-governmental organizations, social and commercial investors, to development institutions and international PVOs. All share an interest in microfinance, as providers of financial services, capital or technical assistance.
MFC invites all national microfinance networks who would like to initiate activities in the area of Social Performance (SP) with their member institutions to apply for technical and financial support from the SP Start-up Fund for Networks.
The initiative of setting up the SP Start-up Fund for Networks is a response to the need of scaling up Social Performance Management in the microfinance industry. The initiative aims at increasing transparency and implementation of the Social Performance Management processes and tools by microfinance institutions. This goal will be achieved by developing capacity of microfinance associations to work with their members on SP Standards Reporting and its alignment to local context as well as elements of SP Management.
The project is funded by the Ford Foundation and implemented by the Microfinance Centre.
Who can benefit?
The SP Start-up Fund will support national microfinance networks from Africa (except Benin, Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda and Senegal), Asia and Eastern Europe, that express interest in initiating SP activities with their member institutions.
What are the SP Start-up Fund services?
The SP Start-up Fund will provide the following mix of services to national networks:
– one-year grants [up to USD 50,000] for starting-up social performance related activities with their members,
– support in development and implementation of the network’s social performance plans,
– capacity building of the network staff and local consultants in fundamentals of Social Performance Management and SPTF/MIX SPS Reporting2,
– information brokerage on available SP related educational and networking opportunities,
– Information brokerage on available technical assistance opportunities for networks and their members.
What does the SP Start-up Fund strives to achieve?
By the end of 2012, the SP Start-up Fund will have:
– supported at least 11 networks,
– educated 220 practitioners in fundamentals of SPM and SPTF/MIX SPS Reporting,
– built capacity of over 20 network staff and local consultants in promoting and carrying out start up SP activities,
– initiated SPM improvement related processes in over 50 MFIs,
– developed 11 case studies on SPM start up by networks.
Deadline for submitting the application is July 29, 2011
For more information and details, please visit this link.
