ENSURING A GOOD RETURN FOR CLIENTS OF MICROFINANCE

In addition to its SMART Campaign commitments, Good Return has recently signed an agreement with the Social Performance Task Force (SPTF), to promote the Universal Standards for Social Performance Management (USSPM). Working with SPTF and the Microfinance Centre of Poland, Good Return will promote the USSPM in all of its operating countries, with a particular focus on Tonga and Fiji.

The USSPM have been developed at a global level to help microfinance institutions and support agencies find common ground on what is understood by social performance management, ultimately ensuring that institutions’ missions are in line with accepted social values. While compliance is not mandatory, the USSPM apply to all organisations measuring their performance in terms of positive impacts on the society or societies in which they operate.

As Good Return’s Microfinance Partnerships Manager, James Le Compte, explains, “while client protection (via the SMART Campaign) aims to do ‘no harm’ to clients, social performance looks at ‘do good’.”

Good Return is currently working with its microfinance partners in Tonga and Fiji, translating USSPM materials into the local language and encouraging its institutions to incorporate social and environmental goals and indicators into their annual business and strategic plans. Awareness building workshops are also being planned for later this year.