Financial Inclusion to Financial stability: linkages that work toward income inequality reduction, poverty alleviation and shrinking the gender gap
Organized by:
NGO Committee on Financing for Development, Virginia Gildersleeve International Fund
Summary:
Background
Devex shares that there are 2 billion people living in the world without access to financial services
and that if this massive unbanked population can gain access to the formal financial systems,
nearly every humanitarian intervention can use cash transfers and innovative financial
instruments to deliver and measure their programs. The latest numbers from Global Findex, a
comprehensive database on financial inclusion from the World Bank Group, reveal that in the
developed world 94% are banked compared to 54% in the developing world. It also shows that
while more than 700 million people gained access to formal financial services between 2011 and
2014, the gender gap in financial inclusion remains a stark reality with women in emerging
economies having a 20% less likely probability to have a bank account than men and 17% less
likely to have borrowed formally1. This is of concern as women make up 40 percent of the world’s
workforce and many of the sectors that are critical for economic growth in some of the poorest
countries rely heavily on women. As access to finance, especially inclusive finance, is touted to
be a key driver for reducing income inequality and poverty alleviation, it is important to
understand:
1. The extent to which the various strategies for expanding financial inclusion are reducing income
inequality and alleviating poverty, while making the necessary progress to achieve Universal
Access by 2020 and financial inclusion as highlighted in paragraph 39 of the Addis Ababa Action
Agenda.
2. Of the 2 billion people without access, what percentage is seeking access but cannot attain it and
what is being done to address this issue?
3. How is financial inclusion being improved through gender disaggregated data and financial literacy
and numeracy programs?
Objective
The objective of the panel, organized by the NGO Committee on Financing for Development, is to
share progress made by financial inclusion strategies in reducing income inequality, alleviating
poverty and shrinking the gender gap. The Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP) states
that there is still a lack of clarity about the specific ways in which financial inclusion promotes
income equality and reduces poverty – though recent user studies in individual developing
countries are beginning to offer important clues. The panel, will share case studies and insight on
progress being made, measures taken to shrink the gender gap in financial inclusion and address
challenges specific to rural communities such as limited financial tools available to help microenterprises
to grow to Small and Medium Enterprises.
Related information:
Contact:
Anita Thomas, anita-thomas@comcast.net