Over the past two years the COVID-19 pandemic triggered an economic crisis in Europe and generated challenging and uncertain times for the microfinance sector.

This year has been marked by the profound impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has generated uncertainty worldwide and has impacted the microfinance sector in Europe. Nonetheless, the year also brought progress, supported by the EaSI Technical Assistance programme, in many areas such as digitalisation, risk management and leadership. Throughout the year, the EaSI Technical Assistance programme has supported microfinance practitioners and clients through the many challenges and continued to support the programme beneficiaries with flexible assistance in order to respond effectively to their demand at the time of a crisis. The technical assistance services were adapted to the travel restrictions in Europe by offering remote delivery methods or a combination of online and on-site implementation best suited to the participating institutions. Here is an overview of all EaSI Technical Assistance activities implemented during 2020 (as of November 2020):