Donor Collaboration and Transparency: Standardized Donor Reporting in Uganda
This paper describes the methodology adopted by fifteen donor agencies with local MFIs to develop a joint reporting format in Uganda. The purpose of the Performance Monitoring Tool (PMT) was to reduce the administrative burden on MFIs created by multiple donor reporting formats. An additional purpose for donors was to apply good MF practice in tracking the performance of their MFI partners.
Some of reasons described in the paper for the success of the project are:
- Supportive environment;
- Donor coordination;
- Consensus among stakeholders;
- Commitment of a project champion.
Some of the key benefits of PMT that the paper describes are:
- To MFIs:
- Significant reduction in time spent on reporting to donors;
- Better tracking of a comprehensive set of institutional results, trends and indicators.
- To MFI Industry:
- Facilitated building understanding and acceptance of indicators;
- Establishment of standard donor reporting structure as a benchmark.
- To donors:
- More consistent information from MFIs;
- Reports generated meet international guidelines;
- Reports provide comprehensive institutional information.
- To clients:
- More efficiently managed and organized MFIs.
The author concludes that the success of the collaborative effort on PMT is one example of the growing movement to standardize reporting. The involvement of key stakeholders in the development process ensured the tool's rapid adoption.
