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10.4 Social Performance Indicators from the Microfinance Sector
The ‘Social Performance Working Group’ has developed a core or common set of ‘social
performance indicators’ for evaluating microfinance institutions (MFIs). A related initiative is the
Social Impact Measurement (SIM) Tool developed by the International Network of Alternative
Financial Institutions (INAFI), composed of Oxfam, Novib and Ordina, as a cost-effective approach to
evaluation. The focus is on easy to measure indicators of performance, including beneficiary
perceptions of change. Commonly used indicators by the micro-finance sector are:
Indicators of changes in assets:
• value of equipment/building for non-farm enterprises
• animal ownership;
• land ownership;
• ownership of transport assets
• ownership of consumer appliances
Indicators of changes in living conditions and reduced vulnerability:
• housing conditions
• type and level of cooking fuel
• access to drinking water
• regularity or frequency of meals
• quality of food
• an expenditure based index showing whether people have reduced or increased their
expenditure on livestock, production materials, housing, and other assets
• savings (increase or decrease)
Schooling indicators:
• % of children reaching 5 th grade 23
or finishing primary school
• % of primary school aged daughters/sons attending school
• % of secondary school aged daughters/sons attending school
Health indicators:
• Number of meals per day (strong correlation between nutrition and health)
• Number of days sick during a given period
• % of births attended by skilled personnel
• Under 5 mortality rate
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This is the preferred indicator of the multiple donor Education For All (EFA) program since grade 5 of primary
school has been identified as the ‘threshold for sustainable literacy’.
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