|
1. Principal Activities
a) Annual Conference: The 2008 annual conference was
held from November 1 to 3, 2008, in Agra, India. The conference title was “Challenges We Face,
Opportunities We Have”. 28 participants
including 2 invited guests attended the conference, representing 20 member
institutions (58% of the whole membership).
The participation rate was very low this year, partly because the venue
was far for many members. The overall
satisfaction level of the conference was higher at 4.5 out of 5.
b) Microinsurance Working Group: Eight periodical sessions and
one annual meeting were organized throughout the year. The periodical sessions discussed topics
pre-selected by the working group members, including marketing and market
education, performance monitoring indicators, and challenges and failures
encountered.
c) Staff Incentive Working Group: A three-day virtual conference
was organised in April, in collaboration with USAID and CGAP. With 108 participants from 37 countries and
145 postings, the forum is among the largest Speaker’s Corners that were
conducted. Participants included MFI managers, consultants, investors and staff
of MFI networks and not-for-profit development agencies.
d) Product List Survey: A survey was carried out in
order to find out which member is working on what product, including the
products in the planning or pilot-testing stage. 22 members responded the survey. The survey results were presented at the
Annual Conference.
e) Human Resources Management Survey: Another survey was conducted to
share tips for successful HR management, especially around the topics of
recruitment, training, turnover issues, and MFI’s growth and HR
management. 14 members responded the
survey.
f) Newsletters for MFN Members: Six newsletters were issued
with an objective to provide updates on the MFN, the members and the
microfinance sector.
2. Network Operation
a) Membership: The number of MFN members is 36
as of Dec. 31st, 2008. During
the year, WOCCU and Banco Los Andes withdrew their membership, and PADME was
removed from the network due to the fact that the government took over its
management.
b) Steering Committee: Three Steering Committee
meetings were held during the year to discuss important issues of the network
operation.
c) General Assembly Annual Meeting took place on November 2, 2008.
The members approved the revision of the MFN bylaws and discussed the
activities for 2009. A steering
committee member (Motaz El Tabaa, ABA) was reelected for his second term (2009-2011).
The status of the Institutional Sponsor (Compartamos) and the Fiscal Agent
(ACCION International) were re-approved, too.
|
Publications 
