Mohanokor Annual Report

[Colby DuLin]

FMOwanted to better understand the risks consumers face in the acceleratedfinancial landscape, such as data theft and privacy loss. To do so, FMOcommissioned experts to help them research and provide actions stakeholderscan implement directly. FMO will also be integrating the guidance andrecommendations into their own consumer protection framework.

M-CRIL MD, Ms Arpita Pal Agrawal, was honoured to be part of the esteemed panel for the session on Mass Market Digital Lending - Emerging Trends & Perspectives on 15 December 2021 at the Inclusive Finance India Summit 2021 and discussed key issues on the subject with the panel. This annual event is being organised by ACCESS Development Services and co-hosted by NITI Aayog, the apex public policy think tank of the Government of India

M-CRIL MD, Ms Arpita Pal Agrawal was the speaker on therecently concluded Asia and the Pacific Regional Dialogue on DigitalTransformation: Gearing Up for Inclusive and Sustainable Development onTSDSI: Digital Technology Innovations Series Webinar#3: "FinTechAdvancements with 5G". She shared her views along with an esteemed paneldiscussing relevant aspects on the subject. The event was being organized byITU.

Relevance of a Sustainability Framework for Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs) and how the ecosystem could contribute to facilitate its adoption. M-CRIL MD, Ms Arpita Pal Agrawal was part of these pertinent roundtable deliberations with the experienced panel.

M-CRIL and EDA have worked with value chains that engage low income families, farmer organisations, agri-enterprises and on financial structures for supporting smallholder agriculture for over 40 years. We have unparalleled research experience and are an acclaimed innovator in this field along with our work in microfinance. On account of our prominent and extensive parallel work in inclusive finance, the work with agri-enterprises and farmer cooperatives/producer organisations (FPOs) is less well known.

Sanjay Sinha, MD, M-CRIL is honoured to be part of the Jury Panel for TheCSRUniverse COVID Response Impact Awards 2021, to find best COVID-related initiatives which made significant contribution to emerging social needs amidst the COVID pandemic. The distinguished panel includes top academicians from premier institutes like IIMs, IRMA, TISS and renowned CSR experts

The power-packed jury panel for selecting the best social projects includes Dr Rishikesha T Krishnan, Director, Indian Institutes of Management (IIM) Bangalore; Dr Himanshu Rai, Director, Indian Institutes of Management (IIM) Indore; Dr Umakant Dash, Director, Institute of Rural Management Anand (IRMA); and Prof Shalini Bharat, Director, Tata Institute of Social Services (TISS), Mumbai.

In addition to the top academicians, the renowned social sector experts in the jury panel include Mr Joseph Nixon, Ex-President & Chief Operating Officer, SBI Foundation; and Mr Sanjay Sinha, Managing Director, M-CRIL.

We are living with a stream of harrowing news. Every cry for oxygen, every notice of a death arouses the sympathies of us all. But sometimes, one you don't expect hits you harder than the others. Shahid Pervez, who courageously researched 'death before birth' in Tamil Nadu for his PhD and carved out a career as a social researcher committed to making his work contribute to improving people's lives, died from covid earlier this month, leaving a home-maker wife and three small kids.

SPTF and M-CRIL have come together to help facilitate this process by organising an online training session to enable MFIs to adopt low-cost, efficient and customer-centric digital payments. The online training session was conducted on 6th August 2020 with an overwhelming response from 300+ participants.

As the events surrounding COVID-19 unfold, the M-CRIL team is committed to delivering thoughtful analysis and resources that will help the inclusive finance and the livelihoods ecosystem to navigate the current uncertainty and disruption, including in the field research. We aim to help research organisations, financial inclusion and livelihood ecosystem stakeholders, and development community deliver services sustainably and at the same time assist their clients/users to cope better with the financial stress and changing on-ground situation in this challenging time.

To facilitate this, M-CRIL is conducting a series of webinars to bring together the inclusive finance and livelihood ecosystem stakeholders in the Asia region with the objective of discussing and sharing experience and practice/s that stakeholders can learn from, modify and adapt to their respective country contexts.

As the events surrounding COVID-19 unfold, the M-CRIL team is committed to delivering thoughtful analysis and resources that will help the inclusive finance ecosystem to deal more effectively with the current uncertainty and disruption. We aim to help financial inclusion providers deliver services sustainably and at the same time assist their clients to cope better with the financial stress at this challenging time.

To facilitate this, M-CRIL is conducting a series of webinars to bring together the inclusive finance ecosystem stakeholders in the Asia region with the objective of discussing and sharing experience and practice/s that stakeholders can learn from, modify and adapt to their respective country contexts. This is the second seminar in the series.

M-CRIL is pleased to share that OnePuhunan, Philippines has successfully completed the CPP Surveillance Audit and has reaffirmed its commitment to Client Protection. It has also implemented client friendly measures to allow flexible repayment of loans to clients who have been effected by the precautionary lockdown to stem the spread of COVID-19.

M-CRIL congratulates SEF for getting SMART Certified and reinforcing their commitment to Client Protection. This is the first certification in South Africa and M-CRIL hopes that it will inspire other financial institutions in South Africa to apply for the client protection certification

The CPP Lite tool focuses on a core set of sub-indicators and compliance criteria of the client protection. This phased approach provides a pragmatic framework for MFIs to strengthen their systems incrementally, and allows public acknowledgement that such institutions are on the path to full CPP compliance.

M-CRIL has been licensed by the Smart Campaign as a certifier since 2013. The Smart Certification program has established the importance and credibility of the seven Client Protection Principles in financial services delivery. Over 120 institutions globally have achieved Smart Certification. Many more FSPs are interested but are looking for a phased approach to become compliant due to size or resource constraints.

Dr Shahid Perwez, delivered the Keynote Address on "Political Economy of Public Health Research in India" at the 7th Annual National Conference of All India Association of Medical Social Works Professionals, 2020 held at the Regional Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) at Imphal, India during 6-7 February 2020. He highlighted the need for a focus on comprehensive disease prevention and rehabilitation with the contribution of social scientists and medical social work professional. He also emphasized need for further research on dealing with challenges of grossly under-reported mental health issues, which are linked with poverty and social exclusion.

M-CRIL looks forward to our partnership with Cerise for pioneering contribution for practical social outcomes reporting systems, data management and use by Incofin investees. M-CRIL extensively works with both traditional and new-age Inclusive finance providers.

M-CRIL, in association with The Myanmar Microfinance Association (MMFA), recently undertook capacity building of MMFA members in the area of Risk Management. The 4 day training conducted for senior managers focussed on an overall approach to risk management and risk reporting covering Credit risks, Operational risks, Financial risks etc.

M-CRIL is pleased to provide consultation to Indian Institute of Entrepreneurship (IIE) Guwahati and Oil Jeevika - a CSR Project of Oil India Ltd, to improve the project implementation of Honey project in Arunachal Pradesh, India. An event was organised recently to provide training and distribute Bee boxes & Bee colonies to entrepreneurs. The event was extensively covered by a regional news channel -

M-CRIL is pleased to facilitate a Exposure tour of India for the Myanmar Microfinance Association (MMFA) to understand the Indian MFI growth story and its opportunities & challenges. Meetings with the RBI, NABARD, SROs, Credit Bureaus, MFIs and SFBs are planned.

M-CRIL is pleased to be have been associated with the Global Microscope 2019. M-CRIL has been contributing to this annual Study since 2014. It is a compendium on the state of financial inclusion in 55 countries covering following five domains: Government and Policy Support, Stability and Integrity, Products and Outlets, Consumer Protection, Infrastructure.

M-CRIL represented by Arpita Pal Agrawal shared her views on emerging risks in the microfinance sector at the National Microfinance Congress 2019 organised by SIDBI(Small Industries Development Bank of India) at Mumbai.

M-CRIL is supporting FPO Lamaten Tingmoo Organic Growers Cooperative Society Ltd in South Sikkim in collectivization of cherry pepper & linkages with institutional buyers. The cherry pepper is widely known as "Dalley Khorsani" in Sikkim. The FPO is able to aggregate around 15 MT yearly collection in peak season from small and marginalised farmers in the difficult terrain of Sikkim.

Mr Ashok Kumar, Executive Director, M-CRIL (FPO rating and market led VC & livelihoods promotion expert) was invited as a panellist to a National Consultation organised jointly by NAFPO & SRIJAN on 12-13 September 2019 to identify gaps and brainstorm policy recommendations for the State of Assam with a key focus on access to finance for FPOs/producer companies, to ensure a supportive ecosystem for FPOs for their business growth.

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