UNRWA Microfinance and Microenterprise Department

Gross Loan Portfolio USD, 2010: 13.5 million

Number of active borrowers 2010: 10,960

Average loan balance per borrower USD, 2010: 1,229.9

Deposits USD, 2010: 0.0

Assets USD, 2010: 19.9 million

Number of depositors 2010: 0

Mission:

Its early mission was to create employment through capital investment loans in existing and start-up enterprises.

Background and Main Challenges:

The Microfinance and Microenterprise Programme (MMP) endeavours to improve the quality of life of small business owners and microentrepreneurs, sustain jobs, decrease unemployment, reduce poverty, empower women and provide income-generating opportunities to Palestine refugees, and other ... Read more

Address:

Ammunition Hill Zalman Sharagi Street PO BOX 19149 Sheikh Jarrah

JERUSALEM

Palestine

Phone:

+972 2 589 220/1

Fax:

+972 2 589 0737

Email:

a [dot] pollock [at] unrwa [dot] org

Main Funding Sources:

Grants

Products and Services:

Loans

Looking for (Investment Types):

Donations

Loans in US$

% Operations Comprised by MF:

91 - 100

Date established:

Jan 1 1991

FYE:

31-Dec

Current Legal Status:

Other

Regulated:

Social Performance Profile


+ Mission specifics
+ Target markets (ranked by importance)
Clients living in urban areas	1
Clients living in rural areas	2
Women	2
Palestinean refugees, youth (18-30 years old), poor and low income clients	3
Adolescents and youth (below 18)	4
+ Development goals (ranked by importance)
Children's schooling	1
Gender equality and women's empowerment	1
Housing	1
Increased access to financial services	1
Youth opportunities	1
Growth of existing businesses	1
Poverty reduction	2
Employment generation	2
Health improvement	2
Improvement of adult education	3
Development of start-up enterprises	4
Financial inclusion for Palestinean refugees	5
Water and sanitation	6
+ Poverty targets
Very poor clients
Poor clients
Low income clients
+ Governance
Has trained members of its board on social performance management
+ Range of products and services
+ Financial products and services offered
+ Credit products offered
Microcredit loans for microenterprises
Microcredit for household needs/consumption
SME loans
Loans for agriculture
Loans for education
Housing loans
Products designed for women such as WHC (women's household credit and solidarity group lending)
+ 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
+ Education services offered
+ Health services offered
+ Women's empowerment services offered
+ Products and services targeting the poor
Products and services specifically designed to target the poor:
+ 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.
A mechanism to handle customer complaints is in place, has dedicated staff resources, and is actively used. (Suggestion boxes alone are generally not considered adequate.)
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)
Diversity, neutrality and ethical behaviour
+ Basis of staff incentives related to social performance
Ability to attract new clients from target market
Outreach to remote/rural communities
Outreach to women
Quality of social data collected
Client retention/drop-out rate
Portfolio quality
Productivity and portfolio-at-risk
+ Social responsibility to the environment
This institution raises clients' awareness about environmental impacts
This institution identifies enterprises with environmental risk
This institution offers lending lines linked to alternative energies
+ Poverty measurement tools in use
Grameen Progress out of Poverty Index (PPI)