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Welcome to the archives of Women’s Advancement Deeply. While we paused regular publication of the site on November 15, 2018, we are happy to serve as an ongoing public resource on women’s economic advancement. We hope you’ll enjoy the reporting and analysis that was produced by our dedicated community of editors and contributors.
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Exploring the global efforts to get women into the financial system through bank accounts, savings and loans.
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From small beginnings, a group of Kenyan women in a slum area have developed a thriving savings group that has brought a measure of financial independence and stability to their lives.
In Part 1 of a two-part report on the informal banks that help women secure financial stability, we look at a savings group in Kenya that grants independence to the women who join it.
In part 2 of our report on the low-income food sellers of Nairobi, we examine the threats facing the women who provide this vital link in the food-security chain – and what the future may hold for them.
The Tanzanian Women’s Bank, designed to close the financial gender gap between men and women, fell victim to bad loans and the country’s ongoing liquidity crisis.
Aarey Milk Colony is a lush forest on the outskirts of India’s commercial capital, but a nationwide program to boost financial inclusion has passed many of its female inhabitants by.
Without bank accounts, two-thirds of Bangladeshi women are missing out on the chance to take control of their money and have a say in financial decision-making. Low workforce participation and lack of interest from banks are to blame, experts say.
A new bank in Zimbabwe catering specifically to women – particularly those in rural areas – will offer loans, advice and skills training to help women get the funding and access to markets that traditional banks often deny them.
Financial services are evolving at a rapid pace, but the gender gaps in accessing them aren’t closing. We talk to Greta Bull, CEO of CGAP, about what the future of financial inclusion holds for women.
With gender equality a key feature of G7 negotiations, we asked four leading experts in the field what they would like to see come out of the negotiations in Canada this weekend.
We talk to Caren Grown, the World Bank’s senior director for gender, about why the financial inclusion gap between men and women hasn’t closed in 11 years, and what we might be able to do about it.
The third edition of the World Bank’s Global Findex has shown no worldwide progress on women’s financial inclusion, despite strong gains in India.
A recent study has found there’s $408 million sitting in unused funds across Africa – money that could be used to get millions more women and girls online. The Alliance for Affordable Internet’s Dhanaraj Thakur explains how.
Sangini Cooperative Bank was the only financial institution in Mumbai to offer sex workers access to savings and credit. Now that the bank has closed, the women are left with only two options: hide their money or risk losing it to moneylenders and con men.
A new report from the Center for Global Development has found that women have much greater interest in opening savings accounts than men do, and that providing women entrepreneurs with mobile banking tools can significantly enhance their profits.
In our March episode of Deeply Talks, which falls on the first day of the 62nd session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW), our editors examine this year’s theme of empowering rural women and girls, featuring insights from two experts.
A growing number of NGOs are adding cash assistance to their aid programming, often targeting the support to women. Some groups find that giving money can boost women’s financial autonomy, but others say handing over cash is only a small part of the solution.
In our second episode of Deeply Talks this year, we discuss the role national ID systems play in advancing financial inclusion for women, featuring insights from three researchers who have examined the issue in depth.
Mohandas Pai Chairman, Manipal Global Education Services
By giving everyone in the country an official ID number, many for the first time, the Aadhaar program is one of India’s most effective tools to increase economic participation, especially for women, says tech investor Mohandas Pai.
Debdatta Saha Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Economics, South Asian University
Until governments and banks tackle issues such as corruption, low informal sector wages and female illiteracy, digital ID systems like Aadhaar will do little to improve the financial inclusion of poor women in India, says economist Debdatta Saha.
As delegates gather for this year’s World Urban Forum, one urgent question is how to ensure urbanization doesn’t make it even harder for women in the informal economy to earn money and support their families.
Precious Moloi-Motsepe and her husband pledged to give away half their mining fortune in 2013. She speaks with News Deeply about how philanthropy can improve women’s lives in South Africa and beyond.
On our first episode of the year, we lay out the crucial issues on women’s economic advancement that we will examine in 2018, and discuss how #WEF18 did on gender this year, with a live dispatch from Davos.
Atika Kemal Research Interests are Digital Technologies for Inclusion and Socio-Economic Development, Digital Innovation, and Gender
Pakistan’s women-focused social benefits payment system shows how the use of digital technologies not only increases financial access for women, but also gives them a voice at home and in the political landscape, writes researcher Atika Kemal.
From digital tech to data collection, this year we will be looking at how the momentum of the women’s movement could drive real progress in efforts to reach economic equality – and the challenges that still stand in the way.
Despite worldwide efforts to support their economic advancement, women still earn less, own less and do more of the world’s unpaid work than men. How do women achieve equality, particularly in the developing world? We’re here to find out.
The Bhamashah scheme running in Rajasthan aims to increase women’s financial inclusion by giving them more control over their family’s money. Women & Girls speaks with Anit Mukherjee, who co-authored a report on the program’s progress toward that goal.
Amber Ehrke Program Officer, IREX
Based on a recent report on the digital divide in Myanmar, Amber Ehrke of the International Research and Exchanges Board argues that a lack of perceived benefits of technology prevents women from using it, even as accessibility increases.
Mary Ellen Iskenderian President and CEO, Women’s World Banking
The surest way to accelerate progress toward global economic parity is for financial institutions to invest in designing and marketing products aimed at women clients, says Mary Ellen Iskenderian, president and CEO of Women’s World Banking.
New findings from the World Economic Forum show the world has slipped backward on gender equality for the first time since 2006, and it could take more than 200 years to close the economic gap between men and women.
As part of our ongoing Expert Views feature, we asked four women at the forefront of the economic empowerment movement what financial inclusion for women really looks like. The verdict was unanimous.
Two decades of research compiled by the Council on Foreign Relations demonstrates that including more women in labor markets will strengthen the global economy.
Just when the Kenyan women of Lake Victoria were able to shake off the threat of sexual assault and join the fishing trade, a conflict with Ugandan authorities has stripped them of their hard-earned savings.
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