CARE has operated savings and lending programs through Village Savings and Loan Association (VSLAs) since 1991. This learning brief outlines CARE’s strategies to advance gender equality in these programs. The brief details experience from four VSLA projects in Uganda, Burundi, Rwanda, and Ethiopia which added gender transformative approaches to the traditional savings group model. Among […]

For the 2023 International Women’s Day, FinDev Gateway compiled research and blogs published about women’s financial inclusion in the previous twelve months. Members of the DSG Hub will likely find the collection of resources on “Digital Finance That Works for Women” most relevant.  These resources include:

FinEquity’s 2023 Annual Meeting explored the nexus linking financial inclusion, women’s empowerment, and climate change, with the purpose of understanding how financial services can help women adapt their livelihoods to erratic rainfall patterns and rising temperatures to mitigate climate risks. Among others, the speakers addressed digitally-enabled financial inclusion, stressing the importance of designing digital financial […]

The UN Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) started its podcast show, Capital Musings, in September 2019 to platform individuals driving impact and change in the area of “last mile” finance models that unlock public and private resources to reduce poverty and support local economic development. All episodes can be found the Capital Musings website. While every […]

This playlist contains eight videos introducing – and providing guidance on how to use – the “Digital Savings Group (DSG) Toolkit: Tools to Support Safe and Gender-responsive Digitization of Savings Groups,” published by Global Communities and Women for Women International in 2022. The playlist includes the following videos: Digital Preparedness Checklist Project Staffing Monitoring and […]

This article summarizes the findings from the Feed the Future Agricultural Development and Value Chain Enhancement (ADVANCE II) project in Ghana, focusing on the impact of the project on Village Savings and Loan Associations (VSLAs) and women’s empowerment. In partnership with the Mobile Telephone Network (MTN), ADVANCE II registered four VSLAs in Ghana’s northern region […]

This special report, by AFI’s Digital Financial Services Working Group, examines the role of digital financial services (DFS) in enhancing and sustaining the access, use, and overall quality of financial services for women. The report includes a comprehensive analysis of the current body of knowledge and case studies of countries that have accelerated DFS policy […]

This article discusses the 2021 edition of the Global Findex, the worldwide measurement of financial inclusion published by the World Bank Group. Specifically, the article highlights two major trends in the data: the growth in digital payments during the COVID-19 pandemic and the relationship between digital payment adoption and the use of other financial services. […]