Inclusive Finance Network Luxembourg 5th European Microfinance Award Microfinance and the Environment Application form The selection process consists of two primary components: - Component : Institutional overview, including financial and social performance - Component : Environmental governance and environmental impact of initiative or initiatives In order to be considered for Component, applicants must demonstrate strong financial and social performance within Component. Upon successfully establishing this standing, the environmental governance and environmental impact of initiatives will be measured through Component. Please note that verification of any information submitted as part of the application process may be requested, therefore please include verifiable quantitative data wherever possible. Please be specific and concise, using quantifiable evidence to support answers whenever possible. Applications should not exceed 5 full pages, excluding cover page. If needed, please provide additional documents as annexes (maximum annexes of 5 pages each, excluding ratings or external assessments and financial statements). Application Forms are available in three languages: English, French and Spanish The deadline for applications is 5 PM, Central European Time, on June 5 th 04. The complete application Form (i.e. Component and Component, as well as rating reports and other supporting documents) must be submitted before this deadline. Please send your complete application, together with the e-mfp member support letter or message, by e-mail to contact@e-mfp.eu Yours sincerely, European Microfinance Platform Award Sponsorship:
Component A. Institutional overview Name of institution Website or relevant internet source Year of establishment, of institution and of microfinance operations Legal form (e.g. MFI, Commercial bank, Leasing Company, etc.) Geographical area of operations including countries and settings (e.g. Rural, urban, peri urban areas) Main address Brief history of the institution (maximum 50 words) Mission statement Vision statement Number of clients Financial products offered, including loans, savings, insurance, and payments (please list with short description and number of clients for each of the main products). Loan portfolio (outstanding balance) Average loan size and duration Number of branches Number of employees Other relevant information. B. Financial performance of the institution If your institution has an independent financial or institutional performance rating report (e.g. from M-CRIL, MicroRate, MicroFinanza Rating, Planet Rating, or another rating agency) issued in the last months please attach the full report(s) and skip this section. This section is intended to evaluate the financial performance of MFIs that have not undergone an independent financial performance rating assessment in the last months. Please provide information on the financial performance of your institution and provide financial statements for past years (statements from past years must be audited). The quality of the data will be checked during the selection process. Portfolio at Risk (PAR) 0 and 90 days Write-off Ratio Portfolio Yield 4 Debt on Equity ratio 5 Return on Equity
6 Return on Assets 7 Operational Self-Sufficiency 8 Financial Self-Sufficiency 9 Please describe your institutions growth over the past three years using quantifiable metrics. C. Social performance of the institution If your institution has an independent social performance rating report (e.g. from M-CRIL, MicroRate, MicroFinanza Rating, Planet Rating, or another rating agency) issued in the last months, please attach the full report(s) and skip this section. This section is intended to evaluate the social performance of MFIs that have not undergone an independent social performance rating or assessment in the last months. Please give concise and detailed answers and use quantitative data to strengthen your argument whenever possible. The quality of the data will be checked during the selection process. If your institution has received a SMART certification or similar third party assessment (but not a full social rating), you are encouraged to attach the full report. However, please do NOT skip this section. Defining and monitoring social goals a. Please outline and describe your institutions social mission including target clients, social goals, indicators used and social targets set. b. How does your institution collect, validate, track and report on these social goals? c. Does your institution have targets for poverty outreach, and if so, how are these measured? d. Please indicate: i. Percentage of active clients that are female. ii. Percentage of active clients that are from rural communities. Commitment to social goals a. Has your board of directors been trained on social performance management? b. Are management and employees held accountable for both financial and social performance of your institution? Which training and incentive mechanisms are in place to ensure that staff is able to execute social goals set forth by your institution? Responsible treatment of clients a. Pricing & product transparency: How does your institution ensure that clients understand product pricing and terms? b. Prevention of over-indebtedness: How does your institution ensure clients are able to meet their financial commitments? c. Responsible treatment of clients: Do you have a Code of Conduct specifying acceptable and unacceptable practices when interacting with clients? How is staff held accountable under this Code of Conduct? d. What mechanism does your institution have for handling client complaints? 4 Products, services, delivery models and channels are developed with client needs in mind a. How does your institution assess client needs and develop products accordingly? b. Please list any non-financial services offered by your institution: i. Enterprise services (for example, enterprise skills development or business development services).
ii. Education services (for example, financial literacy education, nutrition education, child and youth education, training on occupational health and safety). iii. Health services (for example, special medical services for women and children). iv. Women s empowerment services (for example, leadership training for women, women s rights education, counselling or legal services for female victims of violence). v. Other non-financial services. 5 Equitable treatment of employees a. Does your institution have a written Human Resources policy available to all employees that explains employees rights related to: wages, benefits, working conditions, safety at work, non-discrimination, freedom of association and grievance resolution? b. Please indicate: i. Percentage of women for total staff, managers, and board members. ii. What is your staff turnover rate? (number staff departed during prior fiscal year (0) / number of staff at start of prior fiscal year). 6 Balance of financial and social performance a. How does the financing structure of your institution reflect balanced financial and social goals? b. How does your institution balance pricing to its clients and levels of institutional profit? A. Environmental governance of the institution Component Please provide information concerning how environmental issues are integrated within your institutional activities. Whenever possible please attach documentation or additional materials to give us insight into your institutional practices. Does your institution maintain an environmental, or environmental governance, policy? If so, please describe the policy or policies. Some examples of this might include incorporating environmental protection into your mission statement, including a formal policy on environmental responsibility, hiring an environmental manager or incentivizing employees to reach company-wide environmental targets. a. Describe policy. b. When was this policy implemented? c. How does your institution ensure that this policy is integrated in core business activities? d. What has been the primary challenge in implementing this policy? And how has your institution worked to overcome this? Has your organization taken measures to reduce its environmental footprint? If so, please describe these measures. Some examples of this might include environmental audits, setting targets for the reduction of energy consumption, carbon emissions, water, or waste, increasing staff awareness of the ecological footprint of the institution, or including ecological factors into accounting and reporting practices. a. Describe the measures your MFI has taken to reduce its environmental footprint. b. When did your MFI begin to undertake these activities? c. Does your institution work with any partner organisations to strengthen its activities in this area? What does this collaboration involve? d. Have these measures been successful? Please quantify any known reductions in environmental footprint. 4
Does your institution complete environmental risks assessments? If so, please describe these risk assessments and provide the latest report. Some examples of this might include using exclusion lists to prevent engaging with clients that have environmentally harmful activities, screening environmental risks within client activities, raising awareness of environmental issues with loan officers, or tracking the environmental performance of clients. a. Please give a brief description of how your institution is using risk assessments, including dates when these were implemented. b. Who is involved in developing and implementing these risk assessments within the institution? c. Which areas of business do these risk assessments cover? d. What has been the impact of implementing these risk assessments? Please quantify where possible. For example, list number and types of transactions that have been avoided as a result of these assessments or changing average environmental performance of clients. 4 Does your institution engage with environmental non-financial services? If so, please describe these non-financial services. Some examples of this might include initiatives to raise clients awareness on environmental risks, supporting environmentally friendly micro-enterprises through capacity building initiatives or supporting clients in identifying improved environmental practices within their activities. a. Please give a brief description of the environmental non-financial services your institution provides? b. When did your institution begin to provide these services? c. How many clients are using these services currently? How many clients have used these services since inception? d. What has been the impact of these services? Please quantify where possible. 5 Does your institution engage with supporters, regulators, or organizations working to support the local environment? Is so, please provide some information about your institutions engagement with these stakeholders. Some examples of this might include the local ministry for environment, NGOs working for forest conservation, biodiversity action alliances or local water resource management working groups. a. Please give a brief description of your institutions engagement with supporters, regulators or organizations working to support the local environment. b. Which departments or individuals within your institution engage with these actors? How many employees are involved in this dialogue and how frequent is the communication? c. What is the primary motive for engaging with these stakeholders? d. What has been the impact of this engagement? Please quantify where possible. B. Initiative(s) to be evaluated for the Award For multiple initiatives, you may fill a separate form (section B) for each. There is a maximum allowance of 4 pages per initiative. B.. General information on the proposed initiative Please provide some general descriptive information about the initiative that you are nominating for the 5 th European Microfinance Award. Name of the initiative 5
Brief description of the initiative, its goals & key achievements to-date (maximum 50 words) B.. Details of the initiative Reasons for starting the initiative: financial, social, partnerships, expansion, opportunities or other reasons. Describe all reasons. The main problem or opportunity addressed and the services provided. Please include what, how and who provides this service. a. What activities does your institution undertake on a daily basis to make this initiative a success? b. How mainstreamed is the initiative within your institution? c. How many employees (total and %) are involved in the implementation of this initiative? d. Main beneficiaries: distinguish between your clients and other beneficiaries. Environmental focus: may include local energy consumption, local carbon emissions, local water use and water resource protection, biodiversity, forest conservation, etc. Please identify all areas where the initiative aims to have a positive environmental effect and explain how this is achieved. 4 Partnerships: describe functions, relationships and responsibilities of each partner to the proposed initiative. Indicate if you see a role for other organisations in up-scaling or replicating your initiative. 5 Financial sustainability: provide the initiative s performance indicators that are relevant to the project, such as profitability, portfolio at risk, percent of claims approved/rejected (for insurance), etc., and provide (if need be) projected indicators if or when sustainability will be reached. 6 Is the proposed initiative original and innovative within the microfinance industry? How and why is it innovative? 7 Dates of conception, development, and implementation phases. B.. Impact of the initiative Environmental impact: provide evidence to show the effect of your new products or service on the environment and its impacts or potential impacts (e.g. impact studies, other). Client impact: how has the project affected your clients? How many clients (total and %) are involved in this initiative currently? How many clients (total and %) have been involved since inception of initiative? Community impact: how has the project affected the local community? How many beneficiaries has the project impacted, not including clients? B.4. Future perspectives for the initiative 6
Challenges faced: what hampered your institution in developing the initiative, what assisted you to succeed, what still needs to be tackled? Can or will you upscale your initiative within your organisation? Under which conditions, what are the requirements, the resources, and the time frame? Please include targets set for the next five years. Is your initiative replicable for other organisations? Under which conditions, what are the requirements, the resources, and the time frame?. Planned use of the Award If you were to win the Award, how would you use the prize money? 4. e-mfp member supporting the application Please include name and contact details of their primary contact point. 5. References Provide names and contacts of three people (outside the applying/nominating organisation) to provide references about your organization and initiative(s). Reference Reference Reference 6. Contact information Contact information in this section will be used only in relation to the European Microfinance Award. Please indicate the primary point of contact for the purpose of your application to the European Microfinance Award. Name Title Email Phone number Date: Signature: 7