WOMEN & FINANCE
WOCCU’s programs ensure equitable access to financial services and products, and support women’s leadership in the industry.
What We Do
A look at our different interventions
WOMEN'S LEADERSHIP
Providing mentorship & growth opportunities through networks & training.
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Providing mentorship & growth opportunities through networks & training.
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DESIGNING FOR WOMEN
Gender-sensitive services & products specifically tailored towards women.
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Gender-sensitive services & products specifically tailored towards women.
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INCENTIVES TO INCLUDE WOMEN
Using pay-for-performance incentives to catalyze private sector to include women.
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Using pay-for-performance incentives to catalyze private sector to include women.
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WOMEN'S LEADERSHIP
WOCCU established the Global Women’s Leadership Network (GWLN) to provide women with the opportunity and resources to make a measurable difference in the lives of each other, in the lives of credit union members and in their communities. GWLN addresses the credit union industry’s gender gap in leadership while also leveraging resources to strengthen the economic security of women and their families. We provide professionals with tangible skills, tools and resources they need to lead, and actionable steps for organizations to follow, delivered through training programs and our communications platform.
With more than 5000 individuals engaged from 88 countries, GWLN is bursting with diverse groups of women from all walks of life, expertise and professional standing.
Currently, there are 162 GWLN Sister Societies (local chapters) established in 28 countries.
We work to include women to not only become credit union members but also to serve in credit union leadership roles.
In Liberia, 65% of the management staff of program credit unions are women. At end of our project in Rwanda, 529,060 credit union members were women, representing 40% of the total membership. We also delivered training to 26 female credit union managers in auditing tools, business planning and financial literacy.
DESIGNING PRODUCTS & SERVICES FOR WOMEN
Through our programs, we have also worked with financial institutions to design financial products specifically tailored towards women. In Kenya, we supported the development of six tools for women micro-entrepreneurs and farmers. These interventions have proven successful in Kenya, where 36% of partner financial institution customers are women. In Haiti, WOCCU has worked with savings and loans groups that are exclusively women, mostly women or have equal membership percentages between men and women. This inclusivity has created an equitable outreach strategy, and in some cases, female beneficiaries exceed male ones, such as in our Colombia program where 60% of beneficiaries are women.Gender sensitivity in field officer banking: Field officers often travel into rural and remote areas to provide financial services (including financial literacy). Financial institutions using field officer banking target women beneficiaries by hiring female field officers, scheduling meetings that are aligned with the communities’ schedules and ensuring that women are elected to leadership positions within the groups.
