USAID cooperative agreement no. 940-0406-A-00-5246-00 with Catholic Relief Services to provide support for the microenterprise program in El Salvador

CRS will help five participating organizations (CRS/El Salvador, Overseas Education Fund/El Salvador, Finca/El Salvador, Centro de Apoyo a la Microempresa, and Secretaria Nacional de la Familia) to improve their credit programs by (1) upgrading monitoring and information systems; (2) creating and exploiting new microenterprise markets; and (3) increasing their knowledge base through training and information sharing. To improve the capacity of the five organizations to monitor and evaluate the social and financial impact of their microenterprise credit programs. CRS will: (1) help establish computerized financial information monitoring systems in each organization; (2) establish a centralized credit bureau database to help control loan delinquency and default and avoid duplication of efforts among credit agencies; and (3) develop a method for assessing the overall socioeconomic impact of microenterprise development projects and for evaluating the methodological strengths and weaknesses of each agency. Secondly, CRS will conduct research to locate and exploit new microenterprise markets. This research will include: a national study to identify locations where credit demand is not being met; two subsector analyses to identify interventions that will have the highest impact; a marketing study to help microentrepreneurs diversify products and markets, and increase efficiency and sales; and a study of all participating organizations to identify weaknesses, challenges, and opportunities for reaching higher levels of sustainability. Thirdly, to improve the knowledge base of Salvadoran microenterprise credit agencies, CRS will: develop training sessions for implementing agencies and clients; disseminate information and best practices gained from research, information sharing, and training through conferences and newsletters; develop a national documentation center on poverty lending and microenterprise development; and conduct monthly meetings with representatives of all organizations to coordinate activities and share experiences, information, and methodologies.