Social Performance Indicators Blog

Grameen Foundation Announces First Fully Certified PPI™ User: PRISMA Microfinance in Peru

Posted by: Mike Krell

In the latest PPI news, Grameen Foundation's Progress out of Poverty Index™ (PPI™) Certification Program has announced its first fully certified PPI user. Last week, PRISMA Microfinance of Peru became the first MFI to be validated in all three categories of certification: basic, advanced, and tracking over time. I’ve already written elsewhere about why the certification process itself is such a welcome development, but I’d like to tease out some implications of the PRISMA case.

Experienced PPI™ User Discusses Challenges

Posted by: Mike Krell

Muhammed Awais, the Regional Microfinance Programme Specialist for Plan International in Asia and a source for one of my past entries, has recently written a blog post for Grameen Foundation in which he describes the “Top Ten PPI Challenges.” Based in Bangkok, Awais has experience implementing the PPI at both the practitioner and network levels, and his list focuses mainly on MFI resistance to adopting the PPI. He addresses various criticisms leveled at the tool, such as that its basis is older socio-economic surveys or that it is too simple to be effective, while also highlighting a problem with the way the tool has been marketed (i.e. from a purely social performance perspective). It provides invaluable advice for individuals and institutions contemplating PPI implementation.

Taking the Initiative: PPI™ Peer Learning Networks

Posted by: Mike Krell

Muhammad Awais’ recent blog post about creating national PPI™ peer learning networks fits nicely with my previous post about the new PPI Certification Program. Awais, the Regional Microfinance Advisor for Plan International in Asia, talks about the challenges he and others faced in setting up a peer learning network to support MFIs wishing to implement the PPI in Cambodia, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. In essence, his post looks at the the flip side of what I addressed in my recent post (and he’s also more directly involved in the whole process than I am). While I examine what might be considered a top-down approach to helping MFIs implement the PPI tool properly and efficiently—and view the benefits from a decidedly macro perspective—Awais reflects upon his own experiences with an approach aimed at the same goal from the bottom-up: the creation of MFI-led networks to facilitate PPI implementation.

Grameen Foundation Unveils Its New PPI™ Certification Program

 

Posted by: Mike Krell

A perennial problem here at MIX is that of self-reported data. While it’s true that the financials we display come by and large from independent auditors, social performance data—as well as institutional, outreach, and product information—is all self-reported and, for the most part, not externally audited. This fact brings with it an assortment of headaches, the majority of which stem from a simple question: how do we know whether such data is reliable?

Announcement: New Review of the PPI and PAT

Posted by: Mike Krell

How can MFIs collect better quality poverty data?

We at MIX are often asked this question, especially amid current concerns over whether microfinance has drifted from its original goal of poverty alleviation, and there is no easy response. A new report by CGAP together with the Ford Foundation, the European Commission, and the Social Performance Task Force (SPTF) investigates the problem by reviewing two commonly used poverty outreach tools: the Progress out of Poverty Index and the IRIS Poverty Assessment Tool. Their review gives an in-depth overview of how these tools were developed, discusses issues such as accuracy and implementation, and addresses areas in which more work needs to be done. It also collects user feedback from seven different MFIs.