Over the past decade, SEEP has worked extensively with regional and country-level microfinance associations, or networks, to help strengthen entire national and regional microfinance industries. SEEP’s Capacity Building Team works closely with regional and country-level microfinance networks to deliver institutional strengthening activities, to train their staff on best practices, and to build local capacity to deliver training locally. Over 30 regional and country-level networks located across Asia, Africa, Latin America, Europe and the Middle East have participated in SEEP’s network strengthening programs. Building on this substantial experience, SEEP has utilized its extensive knowledge and relationships to create a global community for networks and to create new opportunities for peer-to-peer interaction.

As a result of these efforts, The SEEP Network is now recognized in the microfinance field as the leader in the development of domestic national networks. Significantly, in 2006 the board of directors approved a new policy expanding SEEP membership to include national microfinance networks. This decision not only set the stage for a powerful new surge of enhanced learning opportunities as these important new members share their wealth of experiences, but also marked the next major step in SEEP’s evolution to become the global platform for practitioners everywhere to interact with and learn from each other.