Social Impact Assessment of Microfinance Programmes - weman

members of these organizations are the future clients and others are non-clients. In the
urban areas, a related issue is the selection of sample of clients and non-clients since it is
difficult to differentiate between the treatment and control neighbourhoods or
communities. However, we were able to do this by trying, to the best of our knowledge
and of local knowledge, to identify like with like (Khan, 2004).
The social indicators we wanted to look at can be divided into two categories one, a
general category looking at education, health, and so on, while the other category pertains
to empowerment, such as women's role in household economic decision-making,
purchasing power, financial independence, control on income and savings and control on
loan.
Hence, the first strand of the Study is an Economic and Social Impact Assessment on
borrowers/non-borrowers living in MFI areas and those not living there. The specific
questionnaire and variables to be captured will be based on existing international best
practices in measuring the Economic and Social Impact of MFIs, tailored to Pakistani
conditions. There have been at least three large Economic and Social Impact Assessments
of MFIs in Pakistan – one of Khushhali Bank and two on Kashf, albeit all with some
weaknesses (see Zaka, 2006; Montgomery 2005; Zaidi 2003) – and we hope be able to
match the international best practices in research on the impact, along with the recent
Pakistani studies.
Along with the quantitative questionnaire, the study also includes questions about the
perceptions of borrowers and non-borrowers in order to understand how they see the
impact of the intervention. In many cases, as we show in the chapters that follow,
perceptions seems to be very different from ‘hard data’ and ‘facts’. Since we use Mixed
Methodology, we not only capture the quantitative side through our questionnaire, but
also include extensive Focus Group Discussions with clients, borrowers, non-borrowers,
those who have left the programme – so-called ‘drop-outs’. We also have substantial
Institutional Reviews which are based on interviews and give yet another dimension to
the study.
2.3 Process of Selection of MFIs for Study
Once the Study had been initiated, discussions were held between the Consultant and the
European Union PFSSRP in order to identify six microfinance providers who represent
the broad spectrum of microfinance provider in the country and fulfil the requirement
which shows that there is diversity in our choice. Eleven MFIs/MFPs were identified as
potential institutions who could participate in the Study. All those MFPs approached
showed an initial interest to participate, subject to some final conditions, such as the
finalisation of the methodology, questionnaire, etc. After discussions between the
Consultant and the EU-PFSSRP, a final list of institutions was prepared and they were
invited to join in the Study.
We identified MFIs from two provinces, Punjab and Sindh. The MFIs approached and
their main characteristics were: Orangi Charitable Trust (OCT), urban, Sindh, not simply
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