CGAP

Women agents like Bank Sakhis in #India play an essential role in advancing #FinancialInclusion and fostering trust for digital financial services (DFS) in their communities. But they face challenges: ➡ Gender-based social and cultural norms ➡ Gaps in education and digital and financial literacy ➡ Access to capital, training, and technology Our working paper explores the advantages of increasing the number of #WomenAgents, the challenges faced by women as agents, and potential solutions for making the #DFS sector more inclusive for women and other vulnerable customer segments. Learn more: https://cgap.pub/49aNzZU

Digital financial services are a powerful driver of development, but in many cases, the consumer risks associated with these services are outpacing the opportunities they create—especially for women.     To address this, our latest research shows that it’s essential to build responsible digital finance ecosystems (RDFE) at the country level, where all actors work together to reduce these risks and generate positive outcomes for consumers.     Implementing an RDFE requires 4 key conditions: 1. Customer centricity - prioritizing customer needs and interests to enhance financial solutions' suitability, fairness, and safety. 2. Collaboration - key actors working together to create, fund, and implement solutions that address consumer needs more effectively than if they acted alone. 3. Commitment - equipping all stakeholders with the necessary resources, knowledge, and skills to effectively address risks and opportunities. 4. Capability - all key actors consistently dedicating resources and effort to managing consumer risks and ensuring positive outcomes. Read the full paper here: https://cgap.pub/3XrAeHE #FinancialInclusion #InclusiveFinance Eric Duflos Juan Carlos Izaguirre 🏳️🌈 Myra Valenzuela Laura Brix Newbury Sai Krishna Kumaraswamy

Meet Bhavnaben. A small-scale farmer from India, Bhavnaben is facing more heatwaves, unseasonal rains, and flash floods, making it harder to grow crops. With CGAP partner @Self Employed Women’s Association (SEWA)’s support, Bhavnaben was able to take out a loan with a low interest rate for a precision pump. Now with better irrigation, she can grow a wider variety of vegetables on her farm to diversify her risk. Stories like Bhavnaben’s show how access to innovative financing solutions have real value for rural women, helping them adapt, build their #ClimateResilience and thrive in the face of climate change.

In this oped in The Banker, Michael Wiegand from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and I argue that inclusive finance can make a fundamental difference for people living in climate vulnerable countries, such as farmers in Africa. Closing the financial inclusion gap for the 1.4 billion people without even a financial account is an urgent global priority, as is channeling more climate finance through inclusive finance providers to build climate resilience at the last mile and enable families to adapt or change their livelihoods to be less susceptible to climate shocks as well as to adopt green technologies. Read more at: https://lnkd.in/d4Ccibam CGAP #financialinclusion #inclusivefinance #climatefinance

How can we support our families and give children a better future? #Education. Despite being a fundamental right, 258 million children and young people lack access to education, and this is especially true for girls. This is even worse in fragile situations, where attacks on education cause lasting physical and psychological harm, disrupt learning, increase dropout rates, and deny students access to quality education. Digital #FinancialServices can support education for learners worldwide, by lowering the financial and time costs associated with school fees and teacher wages. Find out more about how #FinancialInclusion can enable education for all: 👇 #SDG4 #EducationforAll #ProtectEducationFromAttack

In rural areas, human touchpoints, known as Cash-in/ Cash-out (#CICO) agent networks, are needed for making digital financial services work. With CGAP’s support, governments, policymakers, and financial service providers in #India, #Indonesia, #Côte d’Ivoire, #Colombia, and #Morocco have expanded the reach and impact of these rural agent networks. CGAP's #InfluenceStories look back on our research & impact: https://cgap.pub/3JOOK61

Despite years of rigorous research on financial services’ impact, it’s still not clear what works, when, and for whom. To address some long standing knowledge gaps, CGAP’s #FinancialInclusion2.0 project is: 1. Examining the role of context in explaining the varied impact of #FinancialServices 2. Exploring innovative evaluation methods that address remaining knowledge gaps 3. Reviewing existing research to understand the impact pathways to development outcomes 4. Using the evidence gathered to build consensus on outcome indicators Learn more here👇

Customer-centricity is essential for #FinancialInclusion, especially for #women in #rural areas. Sistema.bio in #India - part of the CGAP and IDH Trade #ABERA cohort - is pioneering a customer-centric approach to empower rural women by offering affordable biodigesters. By leveraging #CarbonCredits, Sistema.bio helps women in dairy farming households convert organic waste into #RenewableEnergy and organic fertilizer. This model not only meets the financial needs of women but also addresses broader challenges like #GenderNorms and #climate impact. It’s a powerful example of how thoughtful design and collaboration can drive #sustainable growth and unlock market opportunities. Read more in this blog by Catherine Highet, Leena Datwani, Aseema Sulakhe & Vishnu Vardhan Reddy: https://cgap.pub/4esiYcr

Women-owned micro and small enterprises (MSEs) are overcoming gender norms and constraints in order to thrive 🧕 👩🏭 👩💼 Despite these challenges, women entrepreneurs like Divya have seen an increase in digital payments post-pandemic – she is now actively using #fintech products to process payments and save money. In order to empower women #MSE owners, we must bridge the digital literacy gap and provide financial assistance.

🤝 Excited to announce a groundbreaking partnership between CGAP and #SASPP.    💭 In which ways do #AdaptiveSocialProtection (ASP) systems currently affect beneficiaries’ #ClimateResilience and #ClimateAdaptation outcomes? What role do financial services play in achieving these outcomes, if any?     🌍 CGAP and SASPP will be building substantial evidence of safety nets’ beneficial outcomes in the #Sahel to answer these and other questions.    🌿 The partnership will deep dive into the specific ways ASP programs contribute to climate resilience and adaptation and will explore the current and potential future roles played by various financial services, both formal and informal, in enhancing those outcomes for recipients in the Sahel and beyond.    ➡ The plan for the joint research is divided into two primary components:    1️⃣ The first part aims to gain a deeper understanding of how ASP programs currently influence the climate resilience and adaptation of their beneficiaries.    2️⃣ The second part builds on the first, to explore how ASP programs can practically enhance climate outcomes through inclusive financial services.     As we move forward with this partnership, we are aiming to strengthen existing #SafetyNets by boosting their climate adaptative features, including through financial services. The joint research by CGAP and SASPP is a contribution towards poor communities being better shielded from #ClimateShocks while fostering their capacity for increased productivity and #resilience.    Join us as we work towards a resilient and equitable Sahel, where partnerships pave the way for transformative change.     #PPSAS #WorldBank #BanqueMondiale #ProtectionSocialeAdaptative #FinancialInclusion #SustainableDevelopment #FiletsSociaux