Gender lens investing : contribution to women's economic empowerment and way forward (original) (raw)
Related papers
2015
Gender Responsive Investment Handbook Addressing the Barriers to Financial Access for Women's Enterprise. Vanessa Erogbogbo, Esther Eghobamien and Elizabeth Pimentel, 2013. London: Commonwealth Secretariat. 100 pages, illustrations, photographs, appendix, index included. Financial services worldwide are available only to a small percentage of the population. While financial sectors are expanding in terms of assets, these assets are concentrated in the hands of a few. An inclusive financial sector, however, offers the vast majority of the population sustainable access to a range of financial services. (2) The Gender Responsive Handbook (GRH) provides a detailed response to the need for gender responsive investment (GRI). This handbook is based upon commissioned research by the Commonwealth Secretariat. The research responded to the need to focus on regulatory frameworks, policy gaps and financial institution models aimed at enhancing women's access to finance that can be repl...
Gender Responsive Investment Handbook
2013
We hope that the users of this Handbook will find it practical and a useful tool in advancing the priority goal of developing strategies to enhance women's access to finance both within the Commonwealth and more widely. Kamalesh Sharma Commonwealth Secretary-General Contents Foreword iii List of tables, fi gures, boxes and case studies viii Abbreviations and acronyms ix About the authors x v vi Contents 3.2.4 Women are disproportionately affected by barriers limiting access to investment 3.3 Benefi ts of GRI to the economy 3.3.1 Access to fi nancial services directly impacts GDP growth 3.3.2 Increasing the proportion of women who are banked 3.3.3 Poverty reduction 3.3.4 Increasing the number of women trading in the formal sector 3.3.5 A channel for social protection 3.4 Framework for policy-makers 3.4.1 Education 3.4.2 Legal and regulatory environment 3.4.3 Financial infrastructure 3.4.4 Business support institutions 3.4.5 Indicators for tracking progress 4. The Role of Institutions 4.1 Status of women's enterprises and access to fi nancial services 4.2 Benefi ts of GRI for fi nancial services providers 4.
Investing with a gender lens can create financial and social impact by: increasing women's access to capital, promoting workplace equity, and creating products and services that have a positive impact on the lives of women and girls.
The purpose of this study is to examine financial inclusion for women. Some barriers to women financial inclusion were highlighted. Some strategies to increase women financial inclusion were also identified such as providing greater financial education for women, greater access to formal credit for women-owned businesses, microfinance designed for women, government loan schemes for women, adequate legal identification for women, affordable mobile phones for women, and laws that criminalize gender discrimination against women.
Perspectives on Global Development and Technology, 2010
Gender equality of opportunity and women's empowerment are integral and essential elements of any serious strategy for economic growth and pro-poor development. Gender issues cannot therefore be seen as a marginal concern for the financial sector. However, until very recently, despite female targeting of small loans and savings and frequent use of the term "empowerment" in promotional material, explicit attention to gender issues within the microfinance movement has been negligible. This paper aims to be a catalyst for serious debate about ways forward, and the starting point for future lobbying to establish an agreed gender justice protocol for the microfinance sector. It argues that there are steps that all financial institutions can take to improve women's access to finance, ensure financial products are appropriately designed, utilize gender-based indicators for effective monitoring and assessment of impact, enact consumer protection measures, and advocate on behalf of women in the public sphere.
Financial Inclusion as a Stepping Stone to Gender Inclusion and Empowerment: A Perspective
Financial inclusion strives to address and offer solutions to the constraints that exclude people from participating in the financial sector. It broadens the resource base of the financial system by developing a culture of savings among a large segment of rural population and women investors and plays its own role in the process of economic development. By bringing low income groups within the perimeter of formal banking sector; financial inclusion also protects their financial wealth and other resources in exigent circumstances. Financial services are a core enabler for consumption smoothing, risk mitigation, self-employment, SME growth, asset accumulation, and wealth creation. Lack of access to financial services substantially reduces women's ability to climb out of poverty; increases their risk of falling into poverty; contributes to women's marginalization to the informal sector; and lessens their ability to fully engage in measurable and productive economic activities. This paper presents a perspective on the status of women in the financial ecosystem, the major causes of their exclusion and the suggested measures to fill the gap and move towards the desired financial inclusion which is a prerequisite to gender inclusion and empowerment.
Gender and financial inclusion: the critical role for holistic programming
Development in Practice
This article introduces an edited collection on gender and financial inclusion that sets out to provide insights and evidence that enable practitioners to better reach women with digital financial services. The collection brings together four articles on financial inclusion that discuss a diverse range of interventions and experiences and explore the opportunities for and challenges to meaningful financial inclusion for women and non-literate and non-numerate populations. These articles interrogate the methods used to reach last mile communities and highlight the need for holistic, multi-layered programming that supports social norm change and addresses the particular constraints faced by members of these communities.
Gender Matters in Economic Empowerment Interventions: A Research Review
SSRN Electronic Journal, 2017
A review of the recent evaluation evidence on financial services and training interventions questions their gender neutrality and suggests that some design features in these interventions can yield more positive economic outcomes for women than for men. These include features in savings and 'Graduation' programs that increase women's economic self-reliance and self-control, and the practice of repeated micro borrowing that increases financial risk-taking and choice. 'Smart' design also includes high quality business management and jobs skills training, and stipends and other incentives in these training programs that address women's additional time burdens and childcare demands. Peer support may also help to increase financial risk taking and confidence in business decisions, and may augment an otherwise negligible impact of financial literacy training. These features help women overcome gender-related constraints. However, when social norms are too restrictive, and women are prevented from doing any paid work, no design will be smart enough. Subjective economic empowerment appears to be an important intermediate outcome for women that should be promoted and more reliably and accurately measured. More research is also needed on de-biasing service provision, which can be gender biased; lastly, whenever possible, results should be sex-disaggregated and reported for individuals as well as households.
Women and Wealth: Financial Propinquity to Business Success
Australasian Accounting, Business and Finance Journal
Around the globe, women's income and wealth are increasing as never before. Prevailing economic, demographic, and technological changes are growing women's financial strength and independence. Be it finance, marketing, supply chain or ICT based industry, women have made incredible strides, both at professional and social fronts, particularly in the two decades. Today they are better educated, well placed and have greater accountability in the corporate world and are frontrunners in many professions. Consequently, women, particularly in developing countries like India and China have become economic powerhouses. They not only significantly contribute to GDP but also are becoming a substantial untapped market for the wealth management industry. In this context, this study is an attempt to discuss the much talked about, but less understood, issue of women's wealth management in the Indian context. The study is intended to explore financial planning awareness among working women and their attitude towards wealth management. The findings will help wealth managers and financial planners to develop a deeper understanding of female investors' goals and priorities, investment patterns of the working women and to gain insight into gender specific investment behaviour of Indian investors.
Ensuring Access to Finance for Women Entrepreneurs
T20 Policy Brief, 2023
Relatively few financial institutions consider women-led businesses an attractive and profitable target segment, while others often struggle to understand the needs of women-led businesses and thus miss potentially profitable opportunities to develop and deliver women customer-centric services. Impediments to more inclusive financial products, services and support include: the paucity of gender-disaggregated data; incorrect or misaligned incentives for policy implementation; absence of a gendered approach to designing products, services and delivery mechanisms; and gaps in regulatory or legal frameworks that inhibit women entrepreneurs’ access to finance. This Policy Brief argues for an integrated approach to ensuring that service providers understand the value of this market segment and provide women entrepreneurs appropriate products and services that fit their specific needs. It suggests using a gender lens and following a process of stakeholder consultation to ensure that the policies adopted are evidence-based and contextualised appropriately, drawing on an integrated and multilevel view of the ecosystem within which they operate. It also draws on evidence from various countries to support policy recommendations designed to promote more equitable access to finance. Think20 (T20) is an official Engagement Group of the G20. It serves as an “idea bank” for the G20 by bringing together think tanks and high-level experts to discuss policy issues relevant to the G20. T20 recommendations are synthesised into policy briefs and presented to G20 working groups, ministerial meetings, and leaders’ summit to help the G20 deliver concrete policy measures.