Download - Achieving Our Goals Through Partnerships

Achieving Our Goals Through Partnerships Women’s World Banking

Mary Ellen Iskenderian

September 7,2010

Women’s World Banking ®

Women’s World Banking: Who We Are


Women’s World Banking:Global Footprint

• Benin• Burundi• Ethiopia• The Gambia• Ghana• Kenya• Nigeria• Uganda

• Bangladesh• India• Mongolia• Pakistan• The Philippines• Sri Lanka

• Bosnia-Herzegovina• Egypt• Jordan• Morocco• Tunisia• Russian Federation

Asia

Africa

Central & Latin

America

New York: Global Office

Europe, Middle East & North Africa

• Bolivia• Brazil• Chile• Colombia• Dominican Republic• Mexico• Paraguay• Peru

RegisteredStichting

in The Netherlands


Women’s World BankingMission and Impact

Mission

To expand the economic assets, participation, and power of low-income women and their households by helping them access financial services, knowledge, and markets

Network

• Largest network in microfinance, built over 30 years

• 40 microfinance providers

• 28 countries: 8 in Africa, 8 in LAC, 6 in Asia, 6 in EMENA

• 24+ million active clients, 80% women

• $5.5 billion in outstanding loan portfolio; $2.6 billion in deposits

• Average loan size of $1,200


Pre-Eminent Voice for Women in Microfinance:Putting it into Practice


Why Focus on Women ?

• Seen as a more efficient way to end poverty– Women contribute a higher percentage of their earnings to the

household– Women spend more on children’s education and healthcare– Women are responsible for lifecycle risks such as elderly care,

healthcare etc. Hence more focused on saving → asset creation

• Seen as necessary to end poverty– Where gender inequalities constitute barriers to women’s full

participation in an economy, GDP growth will be constrained

• Women poorer than men– In most parts of the world, being poor is synonymous with being

female– Even if a developing country is able to increase its formal job

sector, women will often not be able to participate fully due to lack of skills and education. They will continue to make up the majority in the informal sector, the segment that microfinance serves


The WWB Framework


Effective partnerships…

• Incorporate shared goals, are mission-centric and dynamic • Broaden the way our organization thinks about solutions• Allow each partner to focus on its area of expertise • Work best when both sides are exploring new ideas

• Three effective partnerships for WWB: – The WWB network– Citi – Nike Foundation


Networked partners as unified problem solvers

• The WWB Network itself is a web of partnerships linking 40 field-based microfinance providers to each other and to the WWB global team in New York

– We learn from our network members and share that knowledge within the network and also the broader industry • Introducing products • Accessing the capital markets• Understanding the women’s market • Leadership

– Peer learning through workshops and exchanges – Have a shared mission; are self-determined organizations bound by

mutual accountability– Node, not a hub


Citi, WWB and the evolution of microfinance

• Citi and WWB • Mutually concerned with ways in which banks could enter

the microfinance sector in a responsible way • Shared concerns about potential negative effects of

commercialization


Partnerships in product development

• Nike Foundation

– WWB has been helping network members evolve from credit-centric institutions to include asset building, particularly savings

– The partnership presented an opportunity to expand savings to a new segment, increasing outreach in a new way

– Working with two network member MFIs to design, market and deliver savings products and financial education to girls ages 7 to 24


womensworldbanking.org

Download - Achieving Our Goals Through Partnerships

Top Related