Managing Social Performance: Fonkoze (Haiti)
This paper discusses Fonkoze’s social performance management (SPM).
Fonkoze Foundation and its subsidiary, Fonkoze Financial Services (SFF), works with rural poor people in Haiti in a challenging environment, characterized by high rates of poverty and inequality, political instability and insecurity, high levels of corruption, economic stagnation and inflation, lack of infrastructure, and a low skills base for staff. The paper states that Fonkoze has a strong social orientation and a clear strategy to achieve its social goals. Key features of Fonkoze’s strategy to achieve its social goals include:
- Strong and holistic poverty focus,
- Range of financial services for different client segments;
- Effective non-financial support services;
- Outreach across Haiti, mainly to rural, underserved areas;
- Operating SFF as a separate financial services company;
- Development of a social monitoring unit.
Fonkoze’s experience with SPM highlight its strong SPM ethos, commitment of its leadership and staff, clear mission, contribution of social performance to strategic-level decisions and branch-level operations and its innovative client monitoring system which provides actionable feedback to management and promotes a focus on social performance within branch operations.