Palestinian Businesswomen's Association

Gross Loan Portfolio USD, 2010: 3.5 million

Number of active borrowers 2010: 3,146

Average loan balance per borrower USD, 2010: 1,098.0

Deposits USD, 2010: 56,731.0

Assets USD, 2010: 5.2 million

Number of depositors 2010: 1,803

Mission:

Asala is a leading Microfinance institution working to provide services that help women in poverty to change their lives, their social position, and their future by their successful participation in economic activities

Background and Main Challenges:

Asala – The Palestinian Businesswomen’s Association has been active providing loans to women since 1997 when it was first established under the name of the Center for Women’s Economic Projects (CWEP). In January 2001 it was registered with the Palestinian Ministry of Interior as Non-Profit NGO ... Read more

Address:

2nd floor Issa El Tawil Bld'g. Al Mobaden St., Irsal P.O. Box 2316

Ramallah

West Bank

Palestine

Phone:

00 972 2 240 0532

Fax:

00 972 2 240 2433

Email:

asala [at] palnet [dot] com

Website:

www.asala-pal.org

Main Funding Sources:

Grants

Loans

Products and Services:

Loans

Voluntary Savings

Training and Consulting

Services Provided:

Business Development Services

Looking for (Investment Types):

Donations

Guarantees

Capacity Building Grants

Loans in US$

% Operations Comprised by MF:

91 - 100

Date established:

Jan 1 1997

FYE:

31-Dec

Current Legal Status:

NGO

Regulated:

yes

Social Performance Profile


+ Mission specifics
+ Target markets (ranked by importance)
Women	1
Clients living in urban areas	2
Clients living in rural areas	3
+ Development goals (ranked by importance)
Gender equality and women's empowerment	1
Poverty reduction	2
Increased access to financial services	3
Employment generation	4
Development of start-up enterprises	5
Growth of existing businesses	6
Housing	7
+ Poverty targets
Poor clients
+ Governance
+ Range of products and services
+ Financial products and services offered
+ Credit products offered
Microcredit loans for microenterprises
Microcredit for household needs/consumption
Loans for agriculture
Housing loans
Family loans and personal loans
+ Savings products offered
+ Compulsory insurance products required
+ Voluntary insurance products offered
+ Other financial products and services offered
+ Non-financial services offered
+ Enterprise services offered
Enterprise skills development
Business development services
+ Education services offered
+ Health services offered
+ Women's empowerment services offered
Leadership training for women
Women's rights education/gender issues training
Counseling/legal services for female victims of violence
+ Products and services targeting the poor
Products and services specifically designed to target the poor:	Group lending
+ Social responsibility to clients
+ Client protection principles in use
The loan approval process requires evaluation of borrower repayment capacity and loan affordability. Loan approval does not rely solely on guarantees (whether peer guarantees, co-signers or collateral) as a substitute for good capacity analysis.
Internal audits check household debt exposure, lending practices that violate procedures including unauthorized re-financing, multiple borrowers or co-signers per household, and other practices that could increase indebtedness.
Productivity targets and incentive systems value portfolio quality at least as highly as other factors, such as disbursement or customer growth. Growth is rewarded only if portfolio quality is high.
Prices, terms and conditions of all financial products are fully disclosed to the customer prior to sale, including interest charges, insurance premiums, minimum balances, all fees, penalties, linked products, third party fees, and whether these can change over time.
Staff is trained to communicate effectively with all customers, ensuring that they understand the product, the terms of the contract, their rights and obligations. Communications techniques address literacy limitations (e.g. reading contracts out loud, materials in local languages).
Acceptable and unacceptable debt collection practices are clearly spelled out in a code of ethics, book of staff rules or debt collection manual.
The organization's corporate culture values and rewards high standards of ethical behavior and customer service.
Customers know how their information will be used. Staff explains how data will be used and seeks permission for use.
+ Cost of services to clients
Flat interest method
+ Social responsibility to staff
+ Human resources
Transparency on salary (a clear salary scale based upon market salaries)
Benefits (medical insurance, pension contribution)
Protection at work (safety, anti-harassment)
Equality (anti-discrimination, equal pay for men and women with equivalent skill levels)
+ Basis of staff incentives related to social performance
Ability to attract new clients from target market
Outreach to remote/rural communities
Outreach to women
Client retention/drop-out rate
Portfolio quality
+ Social responsibility to the environment
+ Poverty measurement tools in use
Grameen Progress out of Poverty Index (PPI)
USAID Poverty Assessment Tool (PAT)