Round 1 of the European Microfinance Award 2023 (EMA2023) on ‘‘Inclusive Finance for Food Security & Nutrition’ has closed, and the EMA evaluation team is delighted to announce that 41 organisations from 25 countries have submitted applications – a diverse field representing all the major inclusive finance regions of the world.
Launched on March 15, the EMA2023 seeks to highlight innovations by financial inclusion organisations to safeguard access to quality and affordable food for vulnerable populations and to increase resilience of sustainable food systems. This topic is more important than ever, with global inflationary pressures, the War in Ukraine and the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic meaning that progress on this has stalled – and in many cases reversed. So, we are delighted to receive what is already clear to be a diverse and fascinating field of financial inclusion organisations’ initiatives, from 22 MFIs, 8 banks, 3 FinTechs, 2 networks, 1 NGO, 1 cooperative, and 4 ‘others’.
The e-MFP evaluation team now begins the task of assessing these applications against a rigorous evaluation grid with established criteria for both eligibility and innovation. This process will determine which applicants will be invited to participate in Round 2 - with its more comprehensive application form and required supporting documentation and financial performance assessments. That Round 2 field will then be further reduced to a number passed on to an expert Selection Committee, largely made up of e-MFP and InFiNe.lu members and which will meet in September to choose the semi-finalists and finalists, which themselves will be evaluated by a High Jury and the winner announced on 16th November during European Microfinance Week.
The EMA organisers would like to thank all the organisations that have taken part in this application round, and we look forward very much to starting the process of learning about what they’re doing in the crucial field of food security and nutrition.
Launched on March 15, the EMA2023 seeks to highlight innovations by financial inclusion organisations to safeguard access to quality and affordable food for vulnerable populations and to increase resilience of sustainable food systems. This topic is more important than ever, with global inflationary pressures, the War in Ukraine and the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic meaning that progress on this has stalled – and in many cases reversed. So, we are delighted to receive what is already clear to be a diverse and fascinating field of financial inclusion organisations’ initiatives, from 22 MFIs, 8 banks, 3 FinTechs, 2 networks, 1 NGO, 1 cooperative, and 4 ‘others’.
The e-MFP evaluation team now begins the task of assessing these applications against a rigorous evaluation grid with established criteria for both eligibility and innovation. This process will determine which applicants will be invited to participate in Round 2 - with its more comprehensive application form and required supporting documentation and financial performance assessments. That Round 2 field will then be further reduced to a number passed on to an expert Selection Committee, largely made up of e-MFP and InFiNe.lu members and which will meet in September to choose the semi-finalists and finalists, which themselves will be evaluated by a High Jury and the winner announced on 16th November during European Microfinance Week.
The EMA organisers would like to thank all the organisations that have taken part in this application round, and we look forward very much to starting the process of learning about what they’re doing in the crucial field of food security and nutrition.