The COMPASIS project seeks to protect extremely poor households (with a major focus on women farmers, widows, unemployed youth, returning IDPs, children, and food insecure people) against threats of civil strife, poverty, hunger, poor health, illiteracy and social exclusion so that they are empowered to realize their fundamental rights and full human potential, in the districts of Ermera and Oecusse.

COMPASIS uses proven approaches of community mobilisation and social inclusion to both a) reduce extreme poverty and improve income generation and food security among vulnerable groups through community mobilization, agro-based micro‐enterprises, skills training and post‐training support; and b) promote social inclusion in the service delivery system through the education and participation of school children; community awareness of maternal and child health; and capacity of service providers in planning and executing community‐based water, sanitation and primary health/hygiene schemes.

While a global evaluation of COMPASIS was already conducted, this study is more specific to the SG component of COMPASIS. The objective of the study is to: a) analyze the effectiveness of the SG intervention for the provision of financial services and ingraining basic financial competencies within its members with the support of financial literacy, and b) to conduct a scoping exercise providing recommendations to orient its implementation on a sustainable basis. The evaluation activities were conducted from 14 November to 7 December in 2 of the COMPASIS program implementation districts: Ermera and Oecusse.