Programme reports
General reports
University of Bath, University of Sheffield, and the IDS (March 2001) Summary proposal for Imp-Act - three year Action-Research Programme
Imp-Act Secretariat (May 2001) Report from first Imp-Act Virtual Meeting on Impact Assessment Approaches and Methodologies, held 23-27 April 2001 (Spanish version) (French version)
Imp-Act Secretariat (April 2002) Synthesis Report for Period April 2001 to March 2002 (Spanish version)
Imp-Act Secretariat (July 2002) Imp-Act: Progress to date - 2002 Global Meeting Report (Spanish version)
Imp-Act Secretariat (July 2003) Report from the second Imp-Act Global Meeting held in Polokwane, South Africa, May 2003 (Spanish version)
Imp-Act Secretariat (February 2004) Mini-Synthesis Report for the Period March 2003 - September 2003
Imp-Act Secretariat (October 2004) Consolidating partner experience; influencing policy and practice: Report from the 3rd Annual Global Meeting 27-29 September 2004, Bath, United Kingdom
Thematic reports
Wider impacts of microfinance
Matin, I. & Zohir, S. (September 2002) Wider Impacts of Microfinance Institutions: towards defining the scope and methodology
Discusses wider impacts of microfinance and posits two alternative approaches to the problem. Also lays out a basic conceptual framework for assessing wider impacts of microfinance institutions, including cultural, economic, social and political impacts.
BRAC, Bangladesh (April 2002) Workshop Proceedings of Imp-Act Thematic Group Meeting on Understanding the Wider Impacts of Microfinance
Report from meeting held at the BRAC Centre for Development Management, Rajendrapur, Bangladesh, 6-9 January 2002
Microfinance for the poorest
Simanowitz, A (November 2001) Microfinance for the Poorest: A review of issues and ideas for contribution of Imp-Act
Reviews the factors that may prevent the poorest participating in, or benefiting from, microfinance services, addresses the issue of multiple dimensions of poverty in relation to MFI services, key factors to consider in programme design, and the trade-offs between a poverty focus and financial sustainability.
SEF, South Africa (December 2001) Imp-Act: Microfinance for the Very Poor Thematic Group - First Thematic Group meeting, hosted by the Small Enterprise Foundation, South Africa November 2001
Greeley, M. (November 2002) Sustainability and Poverty Outreach: Trade-off Issues
Imp-Act Secretariat (May 2003) Microfinance and Poverty: Report from a one-day seminar held at the Ranch Hotel, Polokwane, 4 May 2003 (Spanish version)
Imp-Act Secretariat (September 2003) Microfinance and Poverty Report: Developing Systems for Monitoring Depth of Poverty and Outreach
IA systems and processes
Imp-Act Programme (June 2000) Impact Assessment Planning Workshop held at Institute of Development Studies 22-24 June 2000
Anton Simanowitz (April 2001) Virtual meeting on IA Methodologies: Background paper
Background paper to the April 2001 virtual meeting which addressed the issues of defining the range of objectives to be fulfilled and questions to be answered through impact assessment, examining the range of possibilities of approaches and tools available to meet these objectives. (Spanish version) (French version)
Copestake, J (October 2001) Imp-Act: Systems and Processes Thematic Group - Report on first meeting held in Washington D.C., October 2001, in conjunction with meetings of PLAN's microfinance impact assessment working group and SEEP's Client Impact Working Group (CIWG)
Copestake, J (October 2001) Towards a general framework for client monitoring within microfinance organisations
Sets the context for current discussion of client monitoring within microfinance organisations, and suggests that every MFI needs to review the mechanisms by which it monitors the status of different categories of clients, their perceptions of the services they receive and the impact these are having on their lives and livelihoods. (Spanish version) (French version)
Simanowitz, A (December 2001) From event to process: current trends in microfinance impact assessment
Provides an overview of recent developments in microfinance impact assessments, the increasing interest and motivation for impact assessment in the microfinance industry. Also describes the move away from donor-led impact events, towards more practitioner-focused processes. Draft of article appearing in the Small Enterprise Development Journal, Vol 12, No 4.
Regional reports
Asia
CMF, Nepal (August 2000), Report from first Asia Regional Meeting, held Kathmandu, Nepal, 27-29 August 2000
CMF, Nepal (July 2001), Asia Region Workshop: Micro-finance and Impact Assessment Methodology, Bhubaneswar, India
CMF, Nepal (September 2002), Report from the Asia Region Workshop on Impact Assessment Data Analysis and General Progress, held September 2002
Newland, Jamee (February 2004), Report from Asia Regional Meeting held from 15 - 17th February 2004 at BCDM, Rajendrapur, Bangladesh
Latin America
University of Bath, University of Sheffield, and IDS (September 2000), Imp-Act: Latin American Regional Workshop, held September 11-13, 2000 Hacienda Caltengo Tepeji del Río, Hidalgo, México (Spanish version)
FINRURAL, Bolivia (December 2001), Workshop Report - Imp-Act first workshop of the Latin American Network, held 1 & 2 December 2001, Titicaca Hotel, La Paz, Bolivia (Spanish version)
East and South Africa
MicroSave-Africa, Uganda (September 2001), Imp-Act workshop held at Hotel Triangle Annex - Jinja
MicroSave-Africa, Uganda (April 2002), Notes from Imp-Act East Africa Regional Workshop
Johnson, S, University of Bath (September 2002), Notes from the Imp-Act East and South Africa data analysis workshop
West Africa
Imp-Act Secretariat (January 2002), Report from West Africa regional meeting, Kumasi, Ghana (French version)
Central and Eastern Europe and the NIS
MFC, Poland (March 2001), Ford Foundation Microfinance Impact Assessment Project - Regional Seminar, Cracow, 16-17 March 2001
MFC, Poland (September 2000), Ford Foundation Microfinance Impact Assessment Project - Regional Seminar, Warsaw, 4 September 2000
MFC, Poland (May 2002), Minutes from Regional Meeting for Eastern Europe and the NIS, Budapest, 20-21 May 2002
MFC, Poland (April 2003), Imp-Act project in Eastern and Central Europe and the Newly Independent States led by MFC - Dissemination Strategy
