Social Funds and Community-Led Development Projects
CGAP offers advisory services, online resources, and training that can help task managers of social funds and community-led development projects to design, implement, and monitor microfinance activities within their projects. We also offer grant funding for pro-poor initiatives. For more information on the services and resources, please visit the links below or e-mail us at cgap@worldbank.org.
Get Practical Information
Learn more about small-scale savings mobilization for your clients. Savings are an important financial instrument for poor people, and may be an appropriate entry product to a broader range of financial services. If savings are a part of the financial services being made available to the beneficiaries of your project, visit the Savings Information Resource Center to read about the experiences of practitioners and experts in developing deposit products that work for poor people. Take a virtual tour of savings services offered to poor people by 80 institutions worldwide.
Find out what’s appropriate in supporting community-managed loan funds, and find out about the financial sustainability of Self-Help Groups. Our research on supporting commuity-managed loan funds shows there are ways to avoid pitfalls and increase success. Also read our findings on the financial viability of self-help group programs in India.
Learn about practical ways to measure the poverty levels and social performance of your microfinance partners. Are you interested in finding out how poor the people are who are being reached by your projects? in 2006, CGAP, the Grameen Foudnation, and the Ford Foundation funded the Progress-out-of-Poverty Index. The PPI is a user-friendly poverty assessment tool that estimates the likelihood that clients fall below the national poverty line, the poverty line that defines the poorest half below the national poverty line, or the $1/day and $2/day international poverty lines. In addition, CGAP has developed guides that address client monitoring, impact studies, and social performance indicators.
Monitor the Latest Developments
Learn about CGAP's graduation pilots for the poorest. CGAP is currently piloting seven projects in India, Pakistan, Haiti, Honduras, and Peru that are aimed at reaching extremely poor people who are not being reached by traditional microfinance institutions. The pilot projects coordinate social safety nets with microfinance to provide a pathway for the poorest to graduate from chronic food insecurity into sustainable livelihood and gain access to financial services.
Track the latest microfinance news and trends. Check CGAP’s Microfinance Gateway for industry news, announcements and highlights. Review CGAP’s comprehensive surveys of microfinance funders and investors. Consult the Microfinance Information eXchange for analysis and benchmarking reports.
Help shape standards and guidelines in responsible finance. CGAP is currently working with a wide range of microfinance actors to develop principles and standards for client protection. A draft of The Principles for Client Protection and Ethical Business Practices in Microfinance has already been endorsed by many industry players and covers topics such as over-indebtedness, consumer disclosure, collections practices, and privacy.
Receive Training
Join our microfinance training courses. The Microfinance Management Institute (MFMI), a joint venture of CGAP and the Open Society Institute, provides a one-week hands-on course tailored specifically for donors, investors, and policy makers interested in keeping up with the rapidly evolving world of microfinance while gaining practical skills in microfinance appraisal and performance-based management. The course is offered two-to-four times a year in English and French in various locations.
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