Good Return and Women’s World Banking marked the commencement of their strategic partnership at the Asia Pacific Financial Inclusion Summit in Manila (27-29 Oct). The two organizations will work together to achieve greater and more meaningful financial inclusion of women across the Asia Pacific region. The partnership will bring women’s voices into the conversation to enhance financial products and services.
Guy Winship, CEO of Good Return, said that it was time for all players in the financial sector to step up their efforts on promoting women’s financial inclusion. “With over 1.2 billion people living in poverty, and women and girls being disproportionately affected, we need to do more to understand their preferences and needs, as well as the barriers they face, in order to provide impactful financial products and services that will help break the cycle of poverty,” said Winship. “How will we know if we are meeting women’s preferences and needs? It all starts with quality gender-based data.”
When reviewing organizational processes or delivering any financial service—be it financial education programs or mobile banking—it is imperative to be able to draw on quality data, both quantitative and qualitative, that paints the full picture. At the Summit, Women’s World Banking and Good Return guided participants through an interactive workshop, exploring the power of quality gender-based data. The workshop introduced participants to Women’s World Banking’s Gender Performance Initiative. The initiative provides key gender-based social and financial indicators that can help financial service providers better understand how to serve their women clients.
“If financial service providers are committed to serving women clients, then they should measure how well they are serving them,” said Jaclyn Berfond, a research, monitoring and evaluation specialist at Women’s World Banking. “The Gender Performance Initiative represents a critical first step to ensure that data is used to improve interventions for women, and Women’s World Banking and Good Return are excited to work together around this initiative.”
