How can inclusive finance benefit women and enhance their economic empowerment? This was the focus of the ThinkShop organized by the UN Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) in collaboration with the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) held on 20-21 January in Bangkok, Thailand. WOCAN was invited to participate in this event along with other experts and practitioners in finance and women’s empowerment from Asia and Africa. The participants reflected on the meaning of women’s economic empowerment, and the different components that influence this process (e.g. access to assets, information and capacity development, culture, self-confidence, time, etc.). They made concrete propositions to inform the four components of UNCDF programme Shaping Inclusive Finance Transformations (SHIFT) in the ASEAN region (Capacity development; Policy research and advocacy; Capital incentive and technical assistance fund facilities: Financial inclusion data and analysis) to ensure that it effectively addresses women’s economic empowerment.
Maris Lee, WOCAN Program Coordinator, highlighted the importance of having sex-disaggregated data, identifying clear targets and indicators to measure progress of women’s economic empowerment, raising awareness and building capacity of project staff and beneficiaries and supporting women’s collective processes. The contributions of this ThinkShop will also inform UNCDF’s approaches to women’s economic empowerment through its existing and future work across least developed countries.
