SearchAchieving poverty reduction: roll-out of assessment tool continues
18-02-2010
Measuring and tracking the real-life impact of microfinance is not easy - but for Oikocredit, it's essential.
For that reason, Oikocredit works side-by-side with the Grameen Foundation to implement an effective poverty measurement tool among our network of more than 450 microfinance institutions (MFIs). Oikocredit's director social performance and financial analysis Ben Simmes said measuring social impact was vital to the Oikocredit mission.
"It's essential to analyze - definitively - how our work impacts on the lives of the poor and we can strive for that using the PPI," Mr Simmes said. "It's one matter to believe you are making a difference in the lives of the poor but it's another to show it."
After the successful introduction of the Progress out of Poverty IndexTM (PPI) to Oikocredit partners in Ecuador, Peru and the Philippines in the past two years, the focus will now shift to Senegal, Mali and Cambodia.
Pioneering PPI in Africa
Oikocredit is among five organizations which form PUCA (PPI Users Collaborative in Africa) helping West African MFIs target and monitor clients through the introduction of the PPITM. The first poverty assessment of its kind in Africa, the Grameen Foundation's PPITM tool will be used by two Senegalese MFIs and one Mali organization. With training already complete, each MFI is preparing to pilot the tool among their clients. Read Grameen Foundation's announcement and the Grameen Foundation blog
Progress in Cambodia
Four of Oikocredit's Cambodian project partners took part in an intense week of PPITM training in Phnom Penh. 28 representatives from MFI partners AMK, Prasac, Armet and VisionFund joined trainers from Plan Internaional, Grameen Foundation and Oikocredit as the first step in implementing the PPITM in the region. Plan International's Awais Muhammed, Oikocredit's Meldy Pelejo, and Grameen Foundation's Cris Lomboy conducted the training. Read the Blog from Ben Simmes, Oikocredit's director social performance and financial analysis: http://www.progressoutofpoverty.org/blog
How does PPI work?
The PPI is used to assess and track the extent to which an institution is achieving poverty reduction and reaching the working poor. Unlike other measurements, the tool is not just about collecting data. The key is to use the data to strengthen the social performance of an MFI. Find more detailed information on http://www.progressoutofpoverty.org/
These press releases and other disclosures of news and events are correct to the best of our knowledge and belief, based on the information available at the time of publication. These may contain certain forward-looking statements that are subject to known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such statements. All press releases are current only as of the date specified. Oikocredit International disclaims any obligation to update or correct press releases as the result of financial, business or any other developments occurring after the specified date.
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