By Sam Mendelson, e-MFP
In 2018, e-MFP published the first Financial Inclusion Compass survey of sector trends. It got a great response – full of valuable insights from across different stakeholder groups working all around the world. A year later, we published the 2019 Compass. It had twice as many respondents, from more stakeholder groups, and incorporated feedback from the previous year to dig deeper into particular issues.
Clearly, the original plan was to continue as normal this year, with the 2020 Compass survey to be open over the summer – and published in time for European Microfinance Week in November. Over the past months however, as the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the sector has become apparent (in severity, if not in its ultimate effects) we decided to take advantage of the methodology, brand, goodwill and expertise developed in the previous two editions to re-purpose this year’s survey. A few months into this crisis, we felt it is now time to reach out across the financial inclusion sector and ask:
- How severe are the various challenges facing different stakeholder groups;
- What should be the priorities of the sector in the medium-term (both to recover from this crisis and put in place measures to mitigate the next); and
- How will this year transform the sector – for better or worse?
What has come out of it is the special edition Covid-19 Financial Inclusion Compass survey. For those of you who have responded to it before, you will find it quite different. You’ll see that the ‘Trends’ and ‘New Areas of Focus’ aren’t there, and we have really started with a ‘blank page’ to ask the best questions to a diverse mix of stakeholders and collect ideas from the opinion-leaders of the sector.
We’d appreciate it very much if you would not only respond to the survey yourself, but also send it on to your colleagues or friends – sector stakeholders you think we should hear from. Feel free to circulate the link on social media, via email or in newsletters if you wish to.
As last year, the survey is available in Spanish and French in addition to English, and for the first time, the publication that comes out of it – the Financial Inclusion Compass – will be published in all three languages as well.
We hope that this Compass will provide a valuable navigational tool for stakeholders across the sector as we all work out where we go from here.
Thank you in advance
To complete the survey, click here (and choose your language option if applicable).
Sam Mendelson is Financial Inclusion Specialist at e-MFP, and the lead author of the Financial Inclusion Compass
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