The Implementation of Client Protection Principles in ...

1 The Implementation of Client Protection Principles in microfinance Department - UNRWA by Waleed Abdul Ghani Juda Supervised by Dr. Wael Hamdi Al-Daya Associate Professor in Financial Management A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Business Administration April/ 2018 The Islamic University of Gaza Deanship of Research and graduate Studies Faculty of Commerce Master of Business & Administration I.

2 The Implementation of Client Protection Principles in microfinance Department - UNRWA . Declaration I understand the nature of plagiarism, and I am aware of the University s policy on this. The work provided in this thesis, unless otherwise referenced, is the researcher's own work and has not been submitted by others elsewhere for any other degree or qualification.

3 : Waleed Abdul Ghani Juda Student's name: : Signature: : Date: II III Abstract This study aims to examine the strengths and weaknesses of the Implementation of the Client Protection Principles CPPs in UNRWA s microfinance Department MD in Gaza Strip, and provide information and recommendations that might help MD Management to improve its overall social performance. The study used the analytical descriptive approach to analyze the data collected through questionnaire distributed among the whole study population of 58 employees in MD-Gaza.

4 The questionnaire was based on the self-assessment tool (benchmark) that is developed and introduced by The Smart Campaign to assess the Implementation of the seven Client Protection Principles . The study concluded that MD is fully implementing all seven Client Protection Principles with high consensus ( ). These results indicate that MD has an outstanding performance regarding the Implementation of CPPs in comparison with other MFIs around the world, thanks to its commitment to follow the microfinance industry s best practices and the welling to continuous improvement to achieve its mission.

5 In light of the study s results, analysis and conclusion; a set of recommendations were formulated and directed to: 1) MD s management to carry on their efforts to achieve the social mission alongside the financial stability and to always put the Client Protection as a high priority; 2) the Palestinian Monetary Authority to continue following up the Implementation of CPPs in all MFIs working in Palestine and raise awareness about its importance and the best practices to implement it.; 3) the Palestinian Network for small and micro finance Sharakeh to provide its members with guidelines and best practices for a successful application of the Client Protection Principles ; and 4) the Smart Campaign to raise awareness on the importance of the Client Protection Principles in MENA region.

6 These recommendations would improve the contribution of these parties in CPPs Implementation and improve the overall Client Protection . IV " " . 58.

7 : 1) 2) 3) " " 4).

8 V [ :11] VI Dedication I dedicate this thesis to my heroes; my family; Words simply cannot express how grateful I am to my mother for always being there for me, to my father and his prayers that helped me to sustain this far, to my brothers Fikri, Mohammed and Loay and my sister Abeer for their endless support and encouragement. To my soul mate, my beloved wife, Roba, for all of the sacrifices she made on my behalf. She has always been a source of strength and inspiration and she stood by me effortlessly when I needed support.

9 She is my friend, my love, and my whole my four lovely children ZeinEddine, Mohammed, Abeer and Karim, I hope to make them proud of their father. VII Acknowledgements All praise is due to Allah Almighty, Lord of the Worlds, who gave me the strength, endurance and patience to complete this study. I would like to express my gratitude to everyone who supported me throughout the course of this study. I am thankful for their aspiring guidance, invaluably constructive criticism and friendly advice during the course. First and foremost, I would like to express my thanks and gratitude to my academic advisor, Al Daya, for his unlimited guidance, encouragement, patience and endless support.

10 Respectful appreciation and deep thanks are also extended to the discussion committee members, Dr. Fares Abu Mo amer and Eddine Ouda, for letting the discussion be an enjoyable moment, and for the brilliant and valuable comments and suggestions they gave. Sincere thanks to all of my colleagues at UNRWA s microfinance department for their cooperation, especially NaserJaber, Mahmoud Al Aff and my great companion in the study Maher Matar for their valuable efforts and to all contributors in making this study possible. A big thank you to my friend Mohammed Al Madhoun for all the time and effort he dedicated to help me in this study.