World Vision UK’s microfinance arm, Visionfund International, has endorsed an international campaign to get more microfinance institutions to demonstrate their commitment to client protection.

The Smart Campaign, which was set up in 2008 by an international group of microfinance leaders, aims to protect the beneficiaries of microfinance. Its Client Protection Certification Programme launched in January this year with one of VisionFund’s partners, EKI, among the first five organisations to become fully certified.

The 35 other members of VisionFund’s network of microfinance institutions have endorsed the principles and completed the Smart Campaign’s ‘getting started questionnaire’ – the first steps towards full certification.

Launching the certificate, Asad Mahmood, managing director of Global Social Investment Fund at Deutsche Bank and a member of the Smart Campaign steering committee, said: “We see the Smart Campaign’s Certification Programme as becoming the Fair Trade standard in microfinance.”

Certification can be carried out by four different licensed certifiers, which can assess whether the insititution meets all the of the 30 standards. This involves interviews with management and staff, focus group discussions with clients and field review.