This study examined the impact of three microinance projects, in Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda, supported by the Irish aid agency Trócaire, on the livelihood security of project beneiciaries. The perceptions of Trócaire as a donor; three of its partners working in the area of microinance; and project beneiciaries, on the impact of the projects on the livelihood security of the beneiciaries were assessed. The ind ings from the study indicate that the donor and its partners who are implementing the projects are not assessing the overall impact of their projects. The donor is not aware of the impact of its support of microinance projects, while the implementing agencies are mainly concerned with the inancial performance of their organisations, and the impact on clients’ inancial well-being. Academics and microinance practitioners, advocate for much wider impact assessments of microinance projects, other than inancial impact, if the true impact of microinance is to be understood. They argue that instead of using traditional inancial impact assessments, assessments should be broadened to include social, cultural and political impacts on clients, their families and in deed the wider community. This study highlights that all three pro jects are having positive social and non-inancial impacts but the im plementing agencies are not assessing such impact. All three projects are having very positive social impacts, and while individual staff members within the implementing agencies are aware of these, the implementing agencies themselves are not documenting or assessing such impact. Therefore, the donor and all three partners are undermining their support of microinance by not assessing the wider impacts of the projects. The role of microinance in poverty alleviation is subsequently being underrated by not assessing the wider impacts of microinance interventions, even though positive impacts are clearly taking place.