Project for least developed, landlocked and island developing countries

Project title:

Improving the access of women to formal credit and financial institutions in selected least developed countries of the Asian and Pacific region

• About the project
• Meetings and workshops
• Publications

About the project

Duration of the project:

December 1993 - December 1997

Objectives:

To help improve the access of women to formal credit and financial institutions through the exchange of information and experience; and through strengthening the awareness of policy maker regarding gender biases of financial policies. The project (1) evaluated the extent to which women had access to the services offered by existing formal, semi-formal and informal financial institutions; (2) identified special features of successful credit and finance programmes for women; and (3) proposed concrete measures on how to strengthen the links between financial and non-financial institutions.

Participating countries:

Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, Lao People's Democratic Republic, Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal with India, Indonesia, Pakistan, Thailand, Viet Nam as reference countries.

The project targeted officials of central banks, finance ministries, and agricultural and rural development banks responsible for credit and finance programmes for women.

Outcome:

Participants in the regional seminar adopted a set of recommendations for improving access of women to formal credit and financial institutions. These recommendations are reproduced in Improving the Access of Women to Formal Credit and Financial Institutions: Windows of Opportunity, Volume 2 (1998).

Meetings and workshops

National workshops

• National workshop on strengthening rural credit and finance, in collaboration with the Bhutan Development Finance Corporation
  (Thimphu, Bhutan, December 1995)
  
• National workshops on improving the access of women to formal credit and financial institutions
  • National workshop in collaboration with the Agricultural Development Bank of Nepal
    (Kathmandu, Nepal, July 1996)
  • National workshop in collaboration with the Bank of the Lao People's Democratic Republic
    (Vientiane, Lao People's Democratic Republic, August 1996)

  Regional workshop(s)

• Regional seminar on improving the access of women to formal credit and financial institutions in least developed countries, in collaboration with the Viet Nam Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development,
  (Hanoi, Viet Nam, 1-4 July 1997)

Publications

• Improving the Access of Women to Formal Credit and Financial Institutions: Windows of Opportunity, Volume 2 (1998)
  (ST/ESCAP/1859)
  
• Improving the Access of Women to Formal Credit and Financial Institutions: Windows of Opportunity (1996)
  (ST/ESCAP/1601)

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