MFIs Covid-19 awareness training
09 juin 2020 Oikocredit is supporting its partners during the pandemic with several initiatives. Maanaveeya, Oikocredit’s subsidiary in India, worked with MicroSave Consulting who developed a pamphlet to promote awareness of Covid-19 for microfinance institutions (MFI)
The pamphlet uses a comic strip style dialogue to educate MFI staff and end-clients on how to stay safe. Originally produced for Bangladesh, Oikocredit worked with MicroSave to adapt the comic to India and a wider audience. A comic strip was chosen with less literate end-clients in mind, for role play education, and as a novel way to communicate with MFI staff.
Gouri Sankar, Oikocredit’s managing director in India said: “We shared the draft comic with some of our MFI partners and end-clients, who were excited to use this resource. They are already happy to work with us, so the training reaches more MFIs and end-clients. Oikocredit is delighted to play its role in bringing stakeholders together to share this educational resource, and help keep our partners and their end-clients safe during the pandemic”.
The comic has sections covering:
• Staff protection in MFI branches and going out into communities.
• Staff and end-client protection during and after loan meetings.
• Safe cash handling practices for MFI staff and others.
• Safety measures for end-clients visiting an MFI branch.
The pamphlet can be used electronically, as a resource for role play, or as a paper pamphlet where appropriate. Funding for the comic came from the MetLife Foundation and the content was created by MicroSave Consulting, with Oikocredit providing the links to the MFIs for greater outreach as well as making a financial contribution to customising the pamphlet for India.
This is one of many initiatives which Oikocredit is working on to support our partners through the pandemic, and it may have a wider use in other countries besides India.
> Read the comic here