The civilian dimension of the EU's CSDP has traditionally played a Cinderella-like role in the EU crisis management system. And like the original fairy tale, it seems that civilian CSDP will need three essential elements to succeed: (1) a renewed and credible strategic framework - the 'ball...

Implementation of the Joint Africa-EU Strategy (JAES) has taken place in a rapidly evolving political scenario at the global level and specifically within Europe and Africa. The overarching objectives identified in 2007 still remain valid, but concrete priorities now need to be adapted to the...

This paper analyses the EU's support to the emerging African Peace and Security Architecture (APSA), focusing on financial and training aspects. During the last few years, African countries have multiplied their efforts at consolidating regional integration and developing common mechanisms for...

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;...

QUIP (Qualitative in-depth individual impact assessment protocol) is a practical method to help managers of microfinance institutions (MFIs) better understand their clients through market research or impact assessment. Most managers would like to know who is benefiting and who is losing out from...