Sites for sore eyes
The Impact
Assessment Centre (IAC), a joint initiative between the Consultative
Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP) and Imp-Act, is the most comprehensive
web resource on microfinance impact assessment. www.imp-act.org
provides information on the Imp-Act programme, as well guidelines on social
performance.
In terms of Impact Assessment tools, Learning
from Clients (SEEP/AIMS) is the manual which provides detailed guidance
for practitioners on five mid-range, cost-effective impact assessment
tools. This is also available in French and Spanish. MicroSave
is another useful resource, providing important research, practice-based
toolkits and training on market-led solutions for financial services.
Other useful resources include: CGAP,
a consortium of 28 development agencies working to expand access to financial
services for the poor. Especially useful are the CGAP tools and training
modules. Finally, the Client
Targeting Centre provides guidance on client targeting tools used
by MFIs and analyses their success.
In terms of organisations focused on IA and poverty outreach - the SEEP
Client Assessment Working Group (CAWG) works to improve MFI capacity
in all areas of impact assessment. Freedom
from Hunger's technical site houses a wealth of information about
its Credit with Education approach, including impact assessments. Others
include Opportunity
International and Plan
International. Save
the Children also works with IA and has published a useful guide -
Toolkits: A practical guide to monitoring, evaluation and impact assessment.
This hardcopy publication can be ordered from www.nbninternational.com.
Finally, two other websites of interest are: The UN
Year of Microcredit and the Microcredit
Summit Campaign. The former provides useful information on the Year's
vision and strategy, key messages, timeline, and resources. The latter
aims to reach 100 million of the world's poorest families with credit
for self-employment and other financial and business services by 2005.
Katherine E. Knotts
Information and Research Officer, Imp-Act Programme
Institute of Development Studies
University of Sussex
Brighton BN1 9RE
UK
T +44 (0) 1273 873 733
F +44 (0) 1273 621 202
K.Knotts@ids.ac.uk
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