Impact of Microfinance Programs on Children: An annotated survey of indicators

The purpose of this study is to ascertain what indicators have been used by multisectoral, child-focused non-governmental organizations (NGOs), microfinance practitioners and social performance researchers to assess processes that address children’s concerns in operations and the impact of microfinance on children. Furthermore, the study endeavors to reveal the emergent issues and biases related to the use of these indicators and finally, offers recommendations for additional indicators for microfinance practitioners to consider integrating into their monitoring and evaluation systems. The study was conducted through a combination of desk research and interviews with international NGOs, microfinance practitioners and microfinance networks in the Washington, DC metropolitan area.