Study on social performance management in microfinance
Author: M. Bauwin
Editor: ADA
Publication date: 01-04-2019
Language: English
Number of pages: 55
Format: PDF
In 2012, the Social Performance Task Force published the Universal Standards of Social Performance Management, on the basis of a consultation process which brought together several hundred representatives from the inclusive finance sector. These Universal Standards, which were created both by, and for, practitioners in the sector, gather together a collection of good management practices which should enable financial service providers to accomplish their social mission.
In 2014, the social audit tool, SPI4, which was developed by Cerise, was fully aligned with these standards so as to allow financial service providers to assess their social performance management practices, to identify their strengths and weaknesses and to target possible avenues for improvement.
Accordingly, since 2014, Cerise has collected all of the SPI4 audits which have been performed and submitted to it by the institutions within a centralised database. In 2018, ADA and Cerise joined forces to analyse this database and to carry out a study to review the current practices related to the assessment and management of social performance. The study places a particular focus on the profile of the financial service providers which carry out a social audit, on the main strengths and weaknesses of these actors in terms of social performance management, as well as the potential synergies between social, financial and environmental performances.
