Explore the latest global and regional insights from Women’s World Banking’s work in policy, leadership, women’s entrepreneurship, gender lens investing, and more.
The COVID-19 pandemic affected women in India in many ways. A Women’s World Banking survey conducted in the Fall of 2021 in Tamil Nadu and West Bengal gives light to the ways in which women in these states were impacted by the pandemic. Women in these two states responded to
As Women’s World Banking President and CEO, Mary Ellen Iskenderian, puts it: “The global average hides the starker reality of the situation women face. In some countries it will take over 100 years to achieve gender equality in financial access without further intervention.” Even more, the World Economic Forum estimates
Research from Women’s World Banking and our partners highlights the significant benefits of more women banking agents, both for the Financial Services Providers (FSPs) that employ them and for the women agents themselves. But in order to reap these benefits, FSPs need guidance and support from policymakers when it comes
By Pallavi Madhok, Director, Advisory Services – South Asia, Women’s World Banking Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) are the country’s economic growth engines. Many MSMEs have struggled to sustain themselves in the aftermath of the pandemic and require financial support to overcome the economic downturn. Women-led small businesses –
India has made a huge amount of progress in the last-mile delivery of banking services to underserved communities. The opening of Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) accounts has provided millions of Indians with access to at least a basic account. Since its launch in 2014, the number of PMJDY
In this series we dive into the work happening around the world with Women’s Digital Financial Inclusion Advocacy Hub partners, and explore how they are driving women’s digital financial inclusion. As evidenced by this year’s Global Findex Report, digital financial inclusion isn’t just an urgent moral imperative, but an economic one
By Sonja Kelly, Director of Research and Advocacy, Women’s World Banking While undoubted progress has been made in some areas of gender equality, examples of everyday gender bias are still so prevalent that they almost go unnoticed. In the corporate world, unequal pay, boardroom bias, even next technologies like AI
Women’s World Banking’s work with women customers as well as relevant literature in the field, shows that women who save are better positioned to support their families, weather emergencies, take advantage of economic opportunities, and build their businesses. In this study, we collected and analyzed data to better understand why
Women’s World Banking’s first industry report in India highlights the design of its unique ‘Jan Dhan Plus’ solution, and learnings from a subsequent pilot study that helped nurture regular savings behavior among low-income women in the country. To understand women’s savings behaviors, Women’s World Banking worked with Bank of Baroda,
Women’s financial inclusion and economic empowerment are critical building blocks in development. Between now and 2030, the target date for the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, the inclusion of women in the financial sector and their economic engagement and empowerment will unlock major milestones on the road to a more
Financial inclusion is becoming more and more digital. To accelerate this journey to digitization, and not let women customers be left even further behind, we need to ensure policymakers and financial service providers focus on effectively supporting women customers build their digital financial capabilities, so they can use digital financial services with ease and confidence. This report
2021 will be a crucial year for women to build their financial resilience and begin recovering from the setbacks created by COVID-19. According to a recent McKinsey report, women globally are twice as likely to experience job loss due to the pandemic, despite making up only 39% of total employment.
Women’s World Banking’s global network of financial service providers (FSPs) champions women’s financial inclusion in their local markets, shares best practices, and leverages expertise in inclusive economies. Never has this community of practice been more important to women’s economic empowerment than now, particularly with the COVID-19 pandemic creating adverse economic
This post is provided by the Better than Cash Alliance, United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF), in support of the Making Finance Work for Women Summit’s Ask the Experts session “Driving the Potential of Digitized Wages” in which Marjo Chaintreau, Private Sector Digital Innovation Lead, Better Than Cash Alliance UNCDF, served as
By Giudy Rusconi, Specialist, Quantitative Research and Sonja Kelly, Director of Research and Advocacy, Women’s World Banking Financial institutions provide a literal lifeline for many of their hundreds of millions of clients around the world, and never more so than now. As Covid-19 spreads to more low- and middle-income countries,
This blog summarizes findings from a new Women’s World Banking research report available here. In India and Indonesia, women have long battled a litany of challenges to start and expand their own businesses. Constraints related to low access to capital, restricted mobility, limitations on property rights, time poverty, and gender
With support from Standard Chartered and the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Women’s World Banking conducted research in India and Indonesia to investigate the potential of social commerce to advance women entrepreneurs’ financial inclusion.
Project overview: Women’s World Banking partnered with Dutch Bangla Bank Limited (DBBL) in Bangladesh with generous support from the MetLife foundation to understand why women are not engaging with digital financial services. Specifically, we looked at DBBL’s Rocket mobile wallet account usage. This work with DBBL will not only help
In April, Women’s World Banking convened policymakers from around the world—including Indonesia—at Oxford University’s Saïd School of Business for a leadership program for regulators focused on the development and promotion of policy initiatives for women and supporting banks in creating a pipeline of women leaders internally. This is not the first time that Women’s World Banking has partnered with regulators in Indonesia to encourage financial inclusion.
The gender agnostic approach has gone on for too long, and that needs to change.
With a growing gender gap in financial inclusion in Bangladesh, it is imperative to understand the behavioral barriers women face when engaging with digital financial services.
India has experienced exponential growth and enacted innovative financial initiatives in recent years, but promising indicators of greater financial inclusion mask a concerning trend. About half of the women in India with personal bank accounts use them in a limited capacity or not at all. Women’s World Banking’s India Strategy
Women’s World Banking undertook research to determine why women aren’t saving actively in a bank and tested prototypes to change that behavior.
Women’s World Banking’s strategy for Bangladesh addresses why women are getting left out of the country’s financial inclusion gains, and sets out ambitious, workable solutions to shrink the gender gap.
Health insurance is complicated. It is full of financial jargon, and it can be confusing to understand even for those who can afford it and are paying premiums for it.
What needs to happen in Bangladesh before digital financial services become the financial inclusion solution for women in the country?
Shahida Pervin, Deputy Director of Shakti Foundation for Disadvantaged Women in Bangladesh interviews the founder of the organization, Humaira Islam.
Ujjivan’s Chandralekha Chaudhari profiles the accomplishments of one of the women who helped Muhammad Yunus found Grameen Bank in Bangladesh.
Saif Mohammad Moinul Islam, private sector engagement coordinator at Care Bangladesh, wrote a letter to to The Guardian Global Development Professionals Network last week with the provocative headline: "Domestic violence in Bangladesh: blame it on microfinance."
In July, CGAP highlighted the exceptional leadership of Shafiqual Choudhury of ASA, our network member in Bangladesh. He played a leading role in averting a microfinance crisis threatening the country, similar to ones that affected Nicaragua, Morocco and Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Women’s World Banking’s Excellence in Leadership Award recognizes a financial institution within the Women’s World Banking’s network.
