Training in social performance issues is offered by several institutions. See the Imp-Act website for a great list. Upcoming training opportunities include:
Online training on SPM and Poverty Assessment tools
Offered online March - May 2008
Description: An online training on Managing Social Performance and Assessing Poverty will be offered online to anyone interested during -March - May 2008. The course will expose the students to diverse approaches and a range of tools practiced in the field and are proven to be effective. The toolkits are broadly grouped as: Poverty assessment tools, Impact assessment tools, Product Development tools and Market research tools. When combined together, they all contribute to helping practitioners gain technical skills and techniques for making their programs more socially responsible and demand-driven. Sessions will focus on applying learning to real-world situations and include presentations, case studies and group work. Participants will have an opportunity to focus on specific tools and develop an action plan for implementing those tools for their own institutions. The instructor will provide feedback throughout the sessions.
Contact: For more information and registration, please contact Gaamaa Hishigsuren at g_microfin@yahoo.com.
Sa-Dahn 7th Annual Policy Conference: Finance against Poverty: Architecture and Institutions
April 2-3, 2008 in New Dehli, India
Sa-Dhan is a 197-member association of Community Development Finance Institutions in India. This conference has been organized in response to several emerging challenges and recent initiatives in India's microfinance sector, notably the introduction of the Microfinance Sector (Regulation and Development) Bill-2007 in the Parliament. Conference discussion points will include the scope and challenges of using technology for financial inclusion, regional expansion, the role of community-based organization in the sector, and investment dynamics in microfinance. Day 2 will include a special session designed exclusively to address social performance. Registration is open through March 15, 2008. To register, send an email to annualconference2008@sa-dhan.org. For more details, go to http://www.sa-dhan.net/inner1.aspx?event.htm
Social performance management training programme
15 - 18 April 2008, Gurgaon, India
The Indian School of Microfinance for Women (ISMW), in partnership with EDA Rural Systems, is offering a course on SPM which is relevant both for established MFIs and emerging MFIs, as well as resource institutions and individuals that support to MFIs. For further information and registration, please go to http://www.ismw.org.in/default.asp.
Social Performance Task Force Meeting
June 17-18, 2008 in Paris, France
Sponsored by: CGAP & Ford Foundation
Description: The social performance task force has set its next meeting for 17-18 June in Paris. The agenda will focus on progress on the definition of core indicators for social performance reporting, lessons learned from applying social performance management, a review of experiences in applying social rating, and outreach to social investors. For more information about the meeting, please contact Laura Foose at lfoose@alternative-credit.com.
Social Performance Management at the Boulder Microfinance Training Programme
21 July - 8 August 2008, Turin, Italy
The 14th annual Boulder MFT will again feature a course on social performance and social performance management during the third week (4-8 August). In 2007, this was the most-popular course of the event. Register now to avoid disappointment! Further information can be found here: http://www.bouldermicrofinance.org/en/node/25.
Additional training opportunities in social performance are listed below. Firm dates for these are to be determined:
Training on SPM and Poverty Assessment Tools
Sponsored by: Microenterprise Development Institute
Description: The training course on SPM and Poverty Assessment will provide participants with the knowledge and skills to develop social performance management systems for their organizations. The course will introduce the SPM framework developed by and implemented world-wide by the Imp-Act consortium through partner MFIs. This course will take participants step by step through a process of designing and implementing a SPM system tailored to their own organizations' needs. In addition, the training course will provide more hands-on techniques for assessing poverty level of clients. The course teaches practical quantitative techniques and tools, as well as assists the participants to do the first steps in quantitative sampling.
Website: http://www.mdi-nh.org.
Imp-Act International Training of Trainer Course
Sponsored by: Imp-Act Consortium
Description:
Option one: Training of facilitators for auditing and strengthening SPM (3 days) This course will provide practical guidance on how to identify and analyze an MFI's strengths and weaknesses in relation to SPM using the social audit tool developed by MFC and the Imp-Act Consortium. This will be contextualized in a broad introduction to social performance, including analyzing internal and external needs for social performance information, with a particular focus on understanding the key components of social rating. The cost of this course would be $500.
Option two: Training of trainers (TOT) in social performance management (5 days)This workshop prepares participants to deliver the Imp-Act SPM training course, which guides MFI managers through the process of defining the framework for the design of an SPM system. The TOT is the first step towards becoming a certified Imp-Act SPM trainer. The cost of this course would be between $1,200 - $1,500.
Contact: if you are interested in reserving a space or want more information please email Imp-Act@ids.ac.uk.
Microenterprise and Development Institute
Sponsored by: Southern New Hampshire University
Description: This training offers various 'tracks', one of which has a social performance piece. The Client Assessment Track consists of three courses that focus on using client assessment tools and client-led microfinance methodologies and utilizes some MicroSave tools. A similar curriculum is offered at their sister program in South Africa (more information to be available in October).
Website: http://www.snhu.edu/746.asp
Ateneo Development Studies Microfinance Capacity Building Services
Ongoing, Manila
Sponsored by: Ateneo Manila University
Description: This University has a wide variety of microfinance capacity building courses that include some product development courses with a focus on include market research.
Bankakademie International
3 -5 days, by demand.
Sponsored by: Bankakademie International
Description: This course, "Sustainable Microfinance: Introduction to Client, Institution and Policy Perspective," involves some analysis of household economies and social performance indicators but is otherwise quite broad.
Website: http://www.international.bankakademie.de/Navigator/Training_Advisory_Products/TrAdvisory_Banking_Microfinance/Show
The Centre for Micro Finance (CFM)
Every summer, India
Sponsored by: Institute for Financial Management and Research
Description: The CFM offers a course called "Evaluating Social Programs" with support from the Poverty Action Lab at MIT. Similar program held in Boston every summer hosted by the Poverty Action Lab at MIT.
Website: http://ifmr.ac.in/html/main.php
EDA Rural Systems
Ongoing, by request, India
Description: EDA has worked with Imp-Act to develop a social performance management training. The training was piloted in February 2006 with South Asian organizations and consultants.
Website: http://www.edarural.com/training_capacity_building.html
Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India
Ongoing, India
Description: This training institute offers a variety of courses on microfinance and microenterprise development. In particular, they offer an NGO management course that involves some training in social research and in the past have offered a social performance course.
Listening to Clients Series
Order materials for audio visual training unit
Sponsored by: Microfinance Opportunities
Description: This CD product guides MFIs through both the AIMS/SEEP Practitioner-Led Client Assessment Tools and MicroSave's Market Research for Microfinance Tools.
Website: http://www.microfinanceopportunities.org/index.html
Microfinance Centre for Central and Eastern Europe and the New Independent States (MFC)
None currently planned, please check MFC website for details.
Description: MFC offers a course (in either open enrollment or in-house format) called "Introduction to Impact Assessment and Market Research."
Website: http://www.mfc.org.pl/index.php?section=TC&page=Course%20Content
Microfinance Council of the Philippines (MCPI)
Ongoing, Philippines
Description: Offers capacity building services to a network of Filipino organizations that includes a training on the use of a poverty scorecard and other social performance management tools (done in conjunction with CARD).
PlaNet Finance
Ongoing, Paris and other locations
Description: PlaNet Finance offers courses on impact and monitoring and also offers an e-learning service. Courses generally take place in Paris but also in satellite offices.
Website: http://www.planetfinance.org/EN/ngo-activities-microfinance/micro-finance-training.php