The Social Performance Task Force consists of over 800 leaders from all over the world from every microfinance stakeholder group: practitioners, donors and investors (multilateral, bilateral, and private), national and regional networks, technical assistance providers, rating agencies, academics and researchers, and others. Created in March 2005, the Task Force has been charged with clearly defining social performance and addressing questions about measuring and managing social performance. Read the common statement of principles and sign on to the initiative.

El Grupo de Trabajo de Desempeño Social se compone de más de 800 líderes de todo el mundo de todos los grupos que participan en la microfinanza: profesionales, donantes e inversores (multilaterales, bilaterales y privados), redes nacionales y regionales, proveedores de asistencia técnica, agencias de rating, académicos e investigadores. Creado en marzo de 2005, el Grupo de Trabajo está encargado de definir el desempeño social y de tratar cuestiones sobre la medición y gestión del desempeño social.

Announcement for Social Investors:
How are social investors assessing the Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Performance of Microfinance Institutions? And can they harmonise their due diligence questions to be more efficient and reduce the burden on MFIs? These are some of the questions a Social Investor Working Group on Tool Sharing and Harmonization aims to address. The working group resulted from the Social Investor Group Meeting in Bern in June 2010 that is closely associated with the Social Performance Task Force. The working group is coordinated by Triple Jump that is also hosting a first experts meeting on tool sharing and harmonisation in collaboration with Oikocredit and with inputs of SNS Asset Management on September 23 2010 in Amsterdam.

Currently investors are using a variety of score cards, questionnaires or other tools to assess the Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Performance of Microfinance Institutions. The workshop will bring together more than 15 investors that will share their tools and exchange experiences. They will look at what they can learn from each other in applying investor and industry tools and explore whether they can work towards a common core set of questions that address their ESG concerns.

(See attached file: 23-9.Programme.Expert Meeting for Social Investors on Tools to Assess MFI ESG.pdf)(See attached file: Template Investor Presentation of ESG assessment tools.pptx)(See attached file: 23-09 Participants.Update 3 sept.xlsx)

Agenda for the Meeting:
Template for Social Investors:
------------------------------------------------------------------
New in Summer 2010! Research Results on Trade-offs and Synergies between Social and Financial Performance. Find it here!
------------------------------------------------------------------
Review of the 2010 SPTF Annual Meeting
The Annual Meeting took place from June 30-July 1, 2010. Find the full recap of the meeting here.
------------------------------------------------------------------
Announcing the Social Performance Task Force Database of SPM Professionals

The Social Performance Task Force Database of SPM Professionals is a free resource available here.

The database is a list of social performance professionals who have undergone training and have experience in one or more areas of social performance. The database lists these professionals’ names, country affiliations, language(s), contact information, training credentials, and areas of expertise.

The industry has shown demand for a centralized database of individuals who are qualified to offer technical assistance in social performance. The database speaks to this demand, as a resource for microfinance institutions and organizations seeking technical assistance such as: training, tool implementation, product development, and other forms of assistance in the area of social performance.

The database will continue to grow, so please check back regularly. If you would like to be listed in the database, or know someone who might, please take the Database Survey:

• In English: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/DL8JZ5G
• In Spanish: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/SPTFEspanolIn
• In French: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/base_de_donnees

------------------------------------------------------------------

The Social Performance Indicators Blog
This blog, brought to you by the SPTF and managed by MIX, provides a platform for learning and exchange related to the SPTF indicators reported to MIX through interviews and research. You can follow and comment on the blog in English, Spanish and French . Check it out! http://www.spblog.org/

----------------------------------------------------------
The Imp-Act Consortium launches new resources to support MFIs in managing social performance

The Imp-Act Consortium has pioneered the development of practical approaches to assist MFIs in `applying a social lens' to their work and to manage their social performance. We would like to invite you to access these resources free of charge on our website: www.imp-act.org

The resources include:

The SPM film "Fulfilling the promise: Managing social performance" provides a practical introduction to SPM and why it makes sense, as well as guidance on first steps. It is available in two versions and in four languages (Arabic, English, French and Spanish), accessible on our website or it can be ordered as DVD.

The SPM Practice Guide "Putting the`social' into performance management: A practice-based guide for microfinance". This is a practical step by step guide that will help MFIs building social performance management system in a practical manner referring to other MFI's concrete experience. The Guide is available in English, Spanish, French, Arabic and Russian.

The on-line SPM Resource Centre goes beyond the Practice Guide to include a self-assessment tool, additional practitioner experience, discussions and a guide to a wide range of online resources on social performance.

The SPM Network is the go-to place on the net to engage with practitioners, support organization, investors and donors active in supporting SPM.

A series of seven case-studies from leading organizations in SPM have recently been completed and are show-cased on our website. These case-studies are based on a two year action-learning program.

A training course offered to Directors, Board members and senior management to develop your organizations strategy for SPM, and supported by a network of certified trainers worldwide.

Imp-Act is a Consortium of nine organizations working globally – for more information see here. As well as producing these publicly available resources the Consortium is well equipped to provide tailored support to individual MFIs, networks, support organizations and investors and donors globally. If you would like further information, please don't hesitate to contact the Consortium @ imp-act@ids.ac.uk