2ND EUROPEAN MICROFINANCE AWARD 2008

In 2008, the 2nd European Microfinance Award "Socially Responsible Microfinance" aimed to highlight and stimulate initiatives that represented a breakthrough in promoting social responsibility and performance in microfinance.

 

BUUSAA GONOFAA MFI - ETHIOPIA

WINNER

Founded in 2000, Buusaa Gonofaa MFI provides micro-lending and saving services to the ressource poor households in Ethiopia to improve their livelhood. Buusaa Gonofaa has a particular focus on women, landless youth and smallholder farmers.

The initiative « Development of a Client Assesment and Monitoring System or Social Ledger » was presented for the 2nd European Microfinance Award. Buusaa Gonofaa MFI had internally developped a scorecards including 20 indicators related to the poverty of its clients. The scorecard helped track the progress in the well being of clients from time to time.

Thanks to this initiative, Buusaa Gonofaa had a precise segmentation of clients. In addition, it helped not only in modifying loan products features in order to fit the clients'needs but also in managing the achievement of Buussa Gonofaa's social goals.

 

ANGKOR MICROFINANCE KAMPUCHEA (AMK) - CAMBODIA

FINALIST

Based in Cambodia, AMK is a non-bank financial institution dedicated to help large numbers of poor to improve their livelihood through the sustainable delivery of appropriate microfinance services.

In 2008, the initiative presented by AMK was « Social Performance Committee (SPC) : Operating a social reporting framework at the governance level ». AMK created a Social Performance Committee (SPC) in order to develop an MFI that balanced financial and social performance in line with the expectations of the sharelholders (Concern Worldwide). The goal was to better integrate social objectives into AMK's governance and management strategy. The purpose of the SPC was to advise the Board on whether management is incorporating social performance findings into decision-making.

 

RED FINANCIERA RURAL (RFR) - ECUADOR

FINALIST

Red Financiera Rural (RFR) is a not-for-profit network gathering ecuadorian microfinance professional, including savings and Credit Unions, Banks, NGOs and local networks. Its objectives are strengthening its members, representing common interests, promoting adequate state policies, and social and economic development of the country.

For the 2nd European Microfinance Award, RFR presented the initiative « Social Responsibility System for the microfinance institution ». The goal of the Social Responsibility System was to strenghten the social and economic development of Ecuador in a sustainable way and to respond to negative symptoms appearing at the market level. To reach the goal, three activities were developped focusing on specific topics : over-indebtedness prevention, social performance evaluation, and implementation of a Code of Ethics for RFR.

For more information about the 2008 winner and finalists see the 2nd European Microfinance Award report from e-MFP.