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Declaration of Principles


Advancing Social Performance in Microfinance

(Click here to read these principles in French.)

(Click here to read these principles in Spanish.)

As organizations involved in the field of microfinance, members of the SPTF:

  1. Define social performance as the effective translation of an institution’s social goals into practice in line with accepted social values such as:
    • Serving increasing numbers of poor and excluded people sustainably (e.g., expanding and deepening outreach to poorer people)
    • Improving the quality and appropriateness of financial services available to target clients through systematic assessment of their specific needs
    • Creating benefits for clients of microfinance, their families, and communities relating to social capital and social links, assets, reduction in vulnerability, increase of income, improved access to services, and fulfillment of basic needs
    • Improving the social responsibility of our own organizations and the partners we support. This includes consumer protection and gender equity, as well as responsibility to staff, environment and the community.
  2. Recognize that financial performance alone is insufficient to achieve our goal of serving and improving the lives of increasing numbers of poor and excluded people sustainably. Success in microfinance is driven by a double-bottom line, strong financial and social performance, and these equally important aspects are mutually reinforcing in the long run.
  3. Further recognize the contributions from donors, networks, practitioners, rating agencies, investors, and other stakeholders in the systematic application and improvement of tools for social performance management, assessment, monitoring, and reporting.
  4. Commit to improving the social performance of microfinance by:
    • Setting clear and specific social objectives for our own organizations and expectations for the organizations we support.
    • Designing, introducing and using systems to manage, assess, monitor, and report on social performance inside our own organizations and the organizations we support.
    • Using information on social performance to improve our own operations.
    • Verifying our social results with external assessments, audits and ratings where appropriate and available.
    • Being transparent about our social performance and promoting transparency of the partners we support through regular reporting to the MIX on its indicators of social performance standards (SPS).
    • Promoting and exchanging ideas, resources, good practices, and other information on social performance.
    • Endorsing the Social Performance Management Principles for MFIs (click here).