#WOMEN IN FINANCES HOW TO#
Different organizations have very different visions for how to create change, although most are linked by common themes. The first thing that struck me was how divergent they are. In preparation for writing this essay, I looked through a number of theories of change for women’s economic empowerment.
Even the most technical aspects of financial inclusion have implications for women’s economic empowerment But bank accounts can be powerful tools in the hands of women who are determined to take more control over their lives. Women’s economic empowerment is going to take more than bank accounts.
And we must build partnerships with players outside our core areas of expertise who can help shift the levers that don’t directly relate to finance. But we must also be clear about the levers we can pull, both tangible and intangible, to help women find pathways to greater empowerment through financial services that meet their needs. We must be clear about the many constraints that hold women back. How can the financial inclusion community use technology and financial services to help solve such complex problems? The not-so-simple answer is that we must connect our work to a wider theory of change that speaks to women’s economic empowerment. But bank accounts can be powerful tools in the hands of women who are determined to take more control over their lives.” “Women’s economic empowerment is going to take more than bank accounts. Women’s economic empowerment is just as entangled in social norms around health, education, family planning and childcare responsibilities as it is around issues of how women earn a living and maintain control over resources. After all, what good is a bank account or mobile wallet if a woman can’t own a mobile phone or leave the house? The complicated reality is that social norms exert a powerful influence over the roles women are expected to play in society. To create real change in women’s lives, we also have to change the barriers in people’s minds, and that is a more complex undertaking. Even if we take away tangible barriers to women’s empowerment, what women and the men around them believe to be a woman’s proper role in society is a very real barrier. The challenge Melinda Gates describes seems like a pretty daunting one for financial services to solve. But eventually, she writes, she came to see that, “…the primary causes of poverty and illness are the cultural, financial, and legal restrictions that block what women can do – and think they can do – for themselves and their children.” In her book, “The Moment of Lift,” Melinda Gates reflects on how long it took her to realize that empowering women was the single most powerful lever for improving the lives of all human beings. So how can the financial inclusion community contribute to this very ambitious goal? Connecting the dots between women’s financial inclusion and economic empowerment Without fully including women, we won’t solve financial inclusion - or, for that matter, end extreme poverty and promote shared prosperity. Reducing the gender gap requires that we put a gender lens on everything we do. These outdated approaches will not halve (and eventually eliminate) the persistent 9 percent gender gap in financial inclusion, which CGAP committed to help close in its latest five-year strategy.
In the past, gender sat off to the side, either as a project on its own or a “cross-cutting issue” that was everyone's and therefore no one’s responsibility. Why did we take this step? It was to put women’s financial inclusion at the center of everything we do at CGAP. But it will make a profound difference to how CGAP approaches its work going forward. At the same time, we updated our vision statement by adding two small words: “A world where poor people, especially women, are empowered to capture opportunities and build resilience through financial services.” Many readers may not have even noticed this change. In early 2020, CGAP moved beyond the access and usage paradigm in financial inclusion and set its sights on understanding how poor people could use financial services to improve their lives in three ways: generating income, accessing essential services and protecting basic standards of living. There is a third power stronger than both, that of women.” “There are two powers in the world one is the sword and the other is the pen. This post is also available in Arabic and French and Spanish on the FinDev Gateway.
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