Assessment of the poverty level of microfinance clients is important for both practitioners and donors. For practitioners, increased understanding of the target market and whether it is being reached can help in the design of financial services better suited to the needs of different groups of...

This paper is about microfinance and its contribution to the eradication of poverty for millions of the world's poorest people. The Millennium Development goals set a critical challenge of halving absolute poverty in the world by 2015. Microfinance can make an important contribution to these...

Impact assessment surveys are questionnaire-based surveys that allow microfinance institutions (MFIs) to produce statistically valid information on the changes occurring in the lives of their clients and to assess whether these changes can be associated with their participation in the programme.

Most microfinance institutions (MFIs) have a social mission. They may seek to reduce poverty, to reach people excluded from financial services, to empower women or to promote community solidarity. Social performance is the effective translation of an institution's social mission into practice;...