The SEEP Network, in collaboration with Forum Partners, hosted the 2017 Women’s Economic Empowerment (WEE) Global Learning Forum in Bangkok, Thailand from May 23-25.

Women’s financial inclusion was a key focus of the WEE Global Learning Forum. As part of the event, the Grameen Foundation invited Innovations for Poverty Action, along with BRAC and CARE, to debate the best way to close the digital financial services gender gap.

Bhavani Prathap Kasina, IPA Regional Director, Asia and Latin America, argued that more inclusively designed products are important but must be introduced together with training, customer support, and peer networks to improve digital literacy. He also cautioned that women’s disproportionately low access to and use of mobile phones and other digital tools, particularly in rural areas, means that these improvements will only reach a portion of those who could benefit from financial services.

For more information on the available research and open questions on women’s financial inclusion, please refer to IPA’s brief, “Women’s Economic Empowerment through Financial Inclusion.”

City

Bangkok

Country

Thailand