Gender and rural microfinance: Reaching and empowering ... - IFAD

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development, such outcomes may have consequences not only for the women and households involved, but for the effectiveness of the intervention and the sustainability of the institutions. There is a need for much greater understanding of the ways in which different types of products and services affect women and men from different backgrounds and in various contexts. The generic question ‘Does microfinance empower women?’ is not very useful or meaningful. The identification and weighting of standardized SMART indicators (specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, timely) can be controversial because of the complexity of empowerment itself and the frequent trade-offs between its various dimensions, e.g. between levels of income earned and time available for other activities, and between women’s autonomy and the effort they have to put into changing abusive relationships. Women’s own goals and preferences vary significantly with context and between women even within the same context. The main justification for in-depth impact assessment is to improve practice, and this requires careful attention to the high degree of variation in financial services and the institutions delivering them. Which particular aspects of the products and services or institution delivering them can contribute to which dimension of empowerment? In many contexts, information is likely to be unreliable because of the clients' incentives to alter their responses depending on the actual or perceived consequences of those responses for their future access to credit. The gender of both the respondent and interviewer affect responses even from members of the same household (Cloke 2001). Given the costs of credible research and impact assessment, it is the view of the author that more systematic market research that includes information on impact is the most useful approach, though current methodologies need to be more effectively designed in terms of their ability to collect qualitative and quantitative information on empowerment, particularly the dimensions important to clients. 19 19 For an overview of key issues in microfinance impact assessment, see, for example, Hulme (2000). For a discussion of empowerment frameworks and research in Bangladesh, see Kabeer (2000). For a proposed methodology for empowerment market research that can also yield qualitative and quantitative information on empowerment impact, see Mayoux (2009 forthcoming). 14
Organizational culture plays an important role in reaching out to microfinance clients and includes equal opportunity policies and promotion of diversity. Malé, Maldives © IFAD, H. Wagner 15
Page 1 and 2: Gender and rural microfinance: Reac
Page 3 and 4: Contents Acronyms 3 Introduction 5
Page 5 and 6: Acronyms ACORD ANANDI BRAC CGAP DFI
Page 7 and 8: Introduction IFAD’s overarching g
Page 9 and 10: and issues, and, currently, a lack
Page 11 and 12: FIGURE 1 Microfinance and women’s
Page 13 and 14: Rather, these gender differences an
Page 15: that the empowerment process must h
Page 19 and 20: BOX 1 Mainstreaming gender: Element
Page 21 and 22: It is possible for these changes in
Page 23 and 24: III. From access to empowerment: De
Page 25 and 26: BOX 4 Increasing women’s access t
Page 27 and 28: The following sections discuss gend
Page 29 and 30: The loan products available in rura
Page 31 and 32: BOX 6 Savings products Examples of
Page 33 and 34: BOX 7 Insurance programmes for wome
Page 35 and 36: large money transfer operators (Wes
Page 37 and 38: BOX 8 Financial literacy Self-Emplo
Page 39 and 40: discriminated against, or where the
Page 41 and 42: BOX 10 Mainstreaming empowerment in
Page 43 and 44: Programmes do not need to be women-
Page 45 and 46: BOX 12 Savings-and-credit groups: A
Page 47 and 48: has abandoned its original model, t
Page 49 and 50: In India, many organizations are in
Page 51 and 52: Land titling, India The Orissa Trib
Page 53 and 54: Women are often keen to develop the
Page 55 and 56: BOX 16 Measures to promote an enabl
Page 57 and 58: Quality of service • Products wil
Page 59 and 60: Annexes: Decision checklists for ge
Page 61 and 62: Practice Recruitment and promotion
Page 63 and 64: General Questions • Are products
Page 65 and 66: Large versus small loans • Women
Page 67 and 68:
Returns to capital • Access quest
Page 69 and 70:
C. Programme design: Rural microfin
Page 71 and 72:
D. Gender impact checklist Gender i
Page 73 and 74:
• Even if women do not use the in
Page 75 and 76:
Groverman, V., and J.D. Gurung (200
Page 77 and 78:
Rose, K. (1992) Where women are lea
Page 79:
International Fund for Agricultural
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