SUSTAINABLE MICRO-FINANCE SUSTAINABLE MICRO-FINANCE

for for

WOMEN’S EMPOWERMENTWOMEN’S EMPOWERMENTAPPROACHES AND CHALLENGES

ORGANIZATIONALMANDATESORGANIZATIONALMANDATES

WHY GENDER?

WHY GENDER?

economic growth

povertyreduction:

INSTRUMENTALIST

cost-effective implementation

MORALinternational rights agreements

traditional rights

inequality in basic needs

women’s demands and voice

WOMEN ARE NOT A MINORITY BUT A

MARGINALISED MAJORITY

MICRO-FINANCE AND

EMPOWERMENT:

AN OLD ROAD

MICRO-FINANCE AND

EMPOWERMENT:

AN OLD ROAD

Increasing evidence of high female repayment rates and the rising influence of gender lobbies within donor agencies.

Women’s access to credit was given particular leading to the setting up of the Women’s World

Banking network

Attempts by women’s movements to gain access for women to poverty-targeted credit

programmes and cooperatives

Self- Employed Women’s Association (SEWA). with origins in the traditions of unionisation identified credit as a major constraint in their work with informal sector women workers.

Mushrooming of donor, government and NGO-sponsored credit programmes in the wake of the 1985 Nairobi women’s conference.

Large minimalist poverty-targeted micro-finance

institutions like Grameen Bank, FINCA and

ACCION

Early 1970s

1975 first International

Women’s Conference in

Mexico

1980s poverty-targeted credit

1990s femaletargeting for financial sustainability

Feminist

Empowerment

Paradigm

Feminist

Empowerment

Paradigm

Financial

Sustainabilit

y

ParadigmFinancial

Sustainabilit

y

Paradigm

MICRO-FINANCE AND WOMEN’S

EMPOWERMENT

MICRO-FINANCE AND WOMEN’S

EMPOWERMENT

Poverty

Alleviation

Paradigm

Poverty

Alleviation

Paradigm

MULTILANE HIGHWAY OR INCOMPATIBLE

PARADIGMS?

MULTILANE HIGHWAY OR INCOMPATIBLE

PARADIGMS?

FEMINIST EMPOWERMENT PARADIGM

FEMINIST EMPOWERMENT PARADIGM

Underlying

development

paradigm

structu

ralis

t and

socia

list fe

minist

critiq

ue of

capita

lism

Target group

poor women

Main policy

instruments

gender

awareness and

feminist

organization

Reason for targeting women gender equality and human rights

Definition of empowerment

transformation of power relations

throughout societyMain focus of gender

policy

gender awareness

and feminist

organization

Main policy focus : micro-finance as an entry point for women’s economic, social

and political empowerment

Underlying assumption: women’s empowerment requires both

fundamental change in the macro-level development agenda and explicit

support for women to challenge gender subordination at the micro-level

POVERTY REDUCTION PARADIGM

POVERTY REDUCTION PARADIGM

Underlying development

paradigm interventionist

poverty reduction and

community development

Main policy

instruments

• small savings and

loan provision,

• group formation for

comm

unity

development

• methodologies for

poverty targeting

and/or operating in

remote areas.

Target group

the poorest

Reason fo

r targ

eting

women

higher leve

ls of fe

male

poverty

women’s re

sponsib

ility f

or

household w

ell-being

Definition of empowerment

increased wellbeing, community development

and self-sufficiencyM

ain focus of

gender policy

increasing women’s

participation in self-

help groups

Main policy focus : part of an integrated

programme for poverty reduction particularly for the poorest households

Underlying assumptions: • women’s empowerment, household

level poverty reduction and community development are inherently synergistic

• increased well-being and group formation will automatically enable women to empower themselves.

FINANCIAL SUSTAINABILITY

PARADIGM

FINANCIAL SUSTAINABILITY

PARADIGM

Underlying development

paradigm neo-liberal market growth

Main policy instrum

ents

• setting of interest rates to

cover costs,

• separation of micro-finance

from other interventions to

enable separate accounting,

• programm

e expansion to

increase outreach and

economies of scale,

• ways of using groups to

decrease costs of delivery

Target group

entrepreneurial

poor

Reason fo

r targetin

g women

•effic

iency co

nsideratio

ns

because

of high fe

male

repayment ra

tes

•co

ntributio

n of women’s

economic

activit

y to

economic

growth

Definition of empowerment

economic empowerment,

expansion of individual choice and capacities for

self-reliance

Main focus of gender

policy

providing the framew

ork

for equal access for

wom

en

Main policy focus : increasing access to

financially self-sustainable micro-finance programmes for large numbers of poor people, including women

Underlying assumption: increasing women’s access to micro-finance will automatically lead to economic empowerment

without other complementary interventions or change in the

macro-economic growth agenda.

EMPOWERMENT ASSUMPTIONS: VIRTUOUS SPIRALS

HOUSEHOLD WELLBEING

NutritionHealthLiteracyHappiness

INCREASED HOUSEHOLD INCOME

UNDER WOMEN'S CONTROL

WOMEN'S WELLBEING

CHILDREN'S WELLBEING

MEN'S WELLBEING

POVERTY REDUCTION

WOMEN'S SOCIAL AND POLITICAL EMPOWERMENT

INCREASED CONFIDENCE AND

SKILLS (POWER TO)

INCREASED STATUS AND CHANGING

ROLES

WOMEN'S NETWORKS AND

MOBILITY (POWER WITH)

WOMEN'S HUMAN RIGHTS

POWER TO CHALLENGE AND CHANGE GENDER

RELATIONS( POWER OVER)

WOMEN'S ECONOMIC

EMPOWERMENT

INCREASED INCOME FROM

WOMEN'S ACTIVITIES

WOMEN'S ECONOMIC ACTIVITY

INCREASED CONTROL OVER INCOME, ASSETS AND RESOURCES

ECONOMIC GROWTH

INCREASED ACCESS TO MARKETS

INCREASED INVESTMENT

AND PRODUCTIVITY

SAVINGS AND CREDIT

WOMEN'S DECISION ABOUT SAVINGS AND CREDIT

REPAYMENT

AMNA Trader in colour TVsLEAP, Sudan

Amna is from the Beja tribe. She is about 35 years of age and married with four young children. She studied to Class 6 and has recently started studying again to learn more. She chose her husband because ' It is my life, I have to choose '. Her first business was soap-making which she started with a PASED loan in 1993. She has been borrowing regularly every six months and repaying since then.

In 1999 she started a furniture business. Now she also deals in colour and satellite televisions. She earns about SL 2 million a month and has over 200 current clients. She only sells to women because she says women are more trustworthy than men. She varies the repayment period depending on her assessment of the client's ability to repay.

She has built her own house in her own name, spending SL8 million. Her husband gives her all his income for the household. He goes to the market and helps her with her business.

SAVINGS AND CREDIT

WOMEN'S DECISION ABOUT SAVINGS AND CREDIT

REPAYMENT

EMPOWERMENT ASSUMPTIONS: VIRTUOUS SPIRALS

but!!!

??Women may givethe loan to men

??Men may take loan

??Incomes may be very low

??Men may control income

??All women’s incomeMay go for consumption

SAVINGS AND CREDIT

WOMEN'S DECISION ABOUT SAVINGS AND CREDIT

REPAYMENT

?Diversion of loan to other uses

??Women may work from home with marketing by men

WOMEN'S ECONOMIC

EMPOWERMENT

WOMEN'S ECONOMIC ACTIVITY

INVESTMENT INCREASED

AND PRODUCTIVITY

ECONOMIC GROWTH

INCOME FROM

ACTIVITIES

INCREASED

WOMEN'S ACCESS TO INCREASED

MARKETS

CONTROL OVER INCREASED

INCOME, ASSETS AND RESOURCES

QUESTIONING ECONOMICEMPOWERMENT

SAVINGS AND CREDIT

WOMEN'S DECISION ABOUT SAVINGS AND CREDIT

REPAYMENT??Men may withdrawtheir contributionto the household

??Women’s decisions mayreplicate gender inequality

HOUSEHOLD WELLBEING

NutritionHealth

LiteracyHappiness

INCREASED HOUSEHOLD INCOME

UNDER WOMEN'S CONTROL

WELLBEINGCHILDREN'S

WELLBEINGMEN'S

WELLBEING

??POVERTY REDUCTION

WOMEN'S

??Girls may suffer

??Women may foregoown consumption

QUESTIONING WELLEBING

??May replicateand reinforceexisting roles

??Women may work from home

??Debt maydecrease confidence

??May divert attention fromwider change

WOMEN'S SOCIAL AND POLITICAL EMPOWERMENT

INCREASED CONFIDENCE AND

SKILLS (POWER TO)

INCREASED STATUS AND CHANGING

ROLES

WOMEN'S HUMAN RIGHTS

WOMEN'S NETWORKS AND

MOBILITY

SAVINGS AND CREDIT

WOMEN'S DECISION ABOUT SAVINGS AND CREDIT

REPAYMENT

QUESTIONING SOCIAL AND POLITICAL EMPOWERMENT

AND CHANGE GENDER

RELATIONS( POWER OVER)

POWER TO CHALLENGE

SAVINGS AND CREDIT

WOMEN'S DECISION ABOUT SAVINGS AND CREDIT

REPAYMENT

HOUSEHOLD WELLBEING

NutritionHealth

LiteracyHappiness

INCREASED HOUSEHOLD INCOME

UNDER WOMEN'S CONTROL

WELLBEINGCHILDREN'S

WELLBEINGMEN'S

WELLBEING

??POVERTY REDUCTION

WOMEN'S ECONOMIC

EMPOWERMENT

INCREASED INCOME FROM

WOMEN'S ACTIVITIES

WOMEN'S ECONOMIC ACTIVITY

INCREASED CONTROL OVER INCOME, ASSETS AND RESOURCES

ECONOMIC GROWTH

INCREASED ACCESS TO MARKETS

INCREASED INVESTMENT

AND PRODUCTIVITY

WOMEN'S

WOMEN'S SOCIAL AND POLITICAL EMPOWERMENT

INCREASED

SKILLS (POWER TO)

INCREASED STATUS AND CHANGING

ROLES

WOMEN'S NETWORKS AND

MOBILITY (POWER WITH)

WOMEN'S HUMAN RIGHTS

POWER TO CHALLENGE AND CHANGE GENDER

RELATIONS( POWER OVER)

CONFIDENCE AND

??????

???

??????

ALL ASSUMPTIONS MUST BE QUESTIONED

EMPOWERMENT IS NOT AN AUTOMATIC

CONSEQUENCE OF MICRO-FINANCE

PER SE

KEY QUESTIONS

KEY QUESTIONS

RISKSCredit equals debt

Savings may come from necessary consumption or productive investment

Contribution of micro-finance alone appears to be most limited for the poorest and most disadvantaged women.

OPPORTUNITIES

Micro-finance programmes can make a significant contribution to women’s empowerment and gender equality

Gender equality and women’s empowerment are central to achievement of all other development goals.

In micro-finance important for financial sustainability, poverty reach and poverty reduction

How can micro-finance groups build on and

strengthen women’s own strategies?

How can micro-finance support men’s role in change?

What sorts of products,services

are needed for empowerment?

WAYSFORWARD

WAYSFORWARD

What are the implications for organisations themselves?

What are the implications for macro-level policy advocacy?

YOUR QUESTIONSSO FAR

??