Financial Inclusion That Works for Women: Lessons and Best Practices from the European Microfinance Award 2022

By Sam Mendelson, November 2022.

'Financial Inclusion that Works for Women' opens with a tour of a complex and emerging landscape of gender mainstreaming - a short history of microfinance for women, the demand and supply-side barriers they face, and the role that FSPs can play in addressing these challenges. The second part details the Award itself - criteria, evaluation processes, objectives, etc. The third and main part of the paper presents the 10 semi-finalists (and among them the 3 finalists) as case studies within three broad approaches that FSPs can take: Meeting women"s needs through financial products and services; Mainstreaming gender equity and leadership within the institution; and Empowering women with non-financial services. Financial Inclusion that Works for Women concludes with the "Factors for Success" that have emerged over this almost year-long evaluation process: what distinguishes the ten exceptional initiatives profiled within it, and how can other organisations replicate their success?