Providing Enterprise Development and Financial Services to Women

Download or read book Providing Enterprise Development and Financial Services to Women written by Lynn Bennett and published by World Bank Publications. This book was released on 1993-01-01 with total page 74 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: During the past decade, raising the productivity of women became an integral element of the World Bank�s overall strategy for reducing poverty and achieving sustainable growth. The number and scope of Bank projects to provide women with enterprise development, financial services, and social intermediation services grew accordingly. This paper reviews 27 such projects in East and South Asia and provides a succinct assessment of successes, failures, and surprises. The authors identify patterns and trends in the design of projects, examine the reasons for such trends, and draw lessons about how such projects can be more effective in delivering financial services to women in these countries. Many of these women are an increasingly vital source--or the sole source--of income for their families, but they are often overlooked in the implementation of small development projects. The authors draw eight key lessons for future Bank projects to provide enterprise development and financial services. They recommend that such projects be considered one element of a coordinated country-specific strategy for poverty alleviation.