Social Impact, USAID’s monitoring arm, needed to conduct a mid-term performance evaluation of the LIFE project. LIFE’s aim was to economically empower the unbanked, low-income, and underserved micro clientele. It also linked vulnerable entrepreneurs with micro-finance institutions who would provide them with customized business management training, technical know-how, mentoring, and basic business development skills. To evaluate the performance of the project, the OECD DAC methodology was utilized. Specifically three criteria were assessed; Relevance, Effectiveness, and Sustainability, in addition to cross-cutting issues such as gender. In total, 28 focus groups were conducted with beneficiaries of the LIFE project.
