empowerment
Empowering women through micro financing is one strategy that can be used to promote gender equality. You! takes a look...
Women make up nearly half of the world’s population, yet there remain significant differences in labour participation between men and women. The statistics of 2013 revealed that male employment-to-population ratio was 72.2 per cent, while the ratio for females was lower at 47.1 per cent. The question now is why is it so important for women to work? The fact is a country’s economic well being is dependent on its talent pool - both the genders need to work in unison to rev up the country’s economic engine.
Though the disparity between the sexes is less evident in developed nations as opposed to developing ones, differences between the two sexes still exist in all countries. For instance, only 20 per cent of women work in Pakistan and it is time the country began to utilize its most powerful asset: its women.
Empowering women through micro financing is one strategy that can be used to promote gender equality. For those who don’t know, microfinance is a financial service to low-income individuals or to those who do not have access to typical banking services. It also promotes the idea that low-income individuals are capable of lifting themselves out of poverty if given access to financial service.
Luckily, there are numerous organisations in Pakistan that operate in micro financing and provide women with funds which enable them to start their own businesses. One such organisation that promotes women empowerment is Kashf Foundation. Operational since 1996, the foundation’s mission is to alleviate poverty by providing quality and cost-effective micro financing services to low-income households, especially women, so they can enhance their economic role and decision-making capacity.
However, organisations like Kashf need support too, as without adequate assistance from corporate sectors and private donors; they will not be able to achieve their objectives. Coca-Cola, for instance, has been helping Kashf since 2011. To date, they have donated USD 481,500 to Kashf Foundation and through its unrelenting support, provided direct loans to 1,725 low-income women entrepreneurs, and financed 3,162 loans for these women through re-payments from direct loans. By the end of 2015, the number of beneficiaries totalled more than 4,900 females, and if this partnership continues then the number may rise to 13,700 beneficiaries by 2020.
Micro financing through loans has not only raised the living standard of individuals as many are able to purchase basic household amenities such as water coolers and TVs, but has also enhanced the self confidence of nearly all the women involved.
Approximately 78 per cent of clients reported increase in their nutritional intake as their earnings soared. Increased access to education is another area which has seen a substantial rise and clients supported through Kashf have been able to spend more on their children’s education.
Similarly, perceptions regarding female education have also altered; mature Kashf clients are four times more likely to spend on their daughters’ education, which in itself is a building block for gender equality - giving women access to more opportunities, greater freedom of choice, and subsequently a better life.
Despite gains in these areas, Coca Cola’s support to Kashf has resulted in positive effects on family life. As a result of gender trainings, there has been an 11 per cent increase in mutual decision making, 18 per cent husbands have greater respect for their wives, and 66 per cent of husbands changed their thinking on gender issues. Pakistan should make adequate use of female talent, realising that fundamental gender equality is critical for socio-economic gain. Research has also revealed that insufficient income is the leading cause of domestic disputes. With women having their own income and more decision making capacity to use their income as they deem fit, children in these households are bound to lead happier and healthier childhoods.