During this time of uncertainty, it is important for us to convene as a community and focus on the impact economic shocks like COVID-19 will have on underserved and underbanked women. Out of an abundance of caution, Women’s World Banking is shifting the 2020 Making Finance Work for Women Summit to a globally virtual event.

We are still committed to focusing on women’s resilience and driving action towards financial inclusion relating to global economic shocks.

Making Finance Work for Women, through Covid-19 and Beyond
Tuesday, October 20th (EDT):

10:45am: Virtual Registration Opens

11:00am – 11:10am: Opening Remarks

11:10am – 12:15pm: How Global Crises Impact Low-Income Women: Short-Term Recovery, Ways Forward
Covid-19 has sent shock waves through world health and financial systems – it poses a significant threat to women’s employment, livelihoods, and economic empowerment. This plenary session will focus on practical solutions and unexpected opportunities financial institutions, governments, and the private sector have to support low-income women as they move toward recovery.

12:15pm – 1:00pm: Virtual Networking Break

1:00pm – 2:00pm: Ask the Experts
The financial services community has a critical role to play in strengthening women’s resilience and crisis recovery, through Covid-19 and beyond. “Ask the Experts” features a range of interactive panel discussions on topics such as digitized wages, inclusive insurance, leadership and diversity, G2P payments, gender lens investing, and RegTech.

• Driving the Potential of Digitized Wages Wage digitization provides not only a safer, more secure way to save and plan, but ensures secure access to resources during Covid-19 lockdowns. Panelists in this session will address the barriers to advancing digital payments in emerging markets and outline opportunities to spur economic recovery.
• Targeting Women in Inclusive Insurance The financial sector can strengthen job protection for low-income women by increasing access to insurance structures and offering tailored products to customers. Panelists in this session will explore best practices for insurers to adopt relief, recovery, and resilience measures as a way to mitigate the impact of Covid-19.
• Leadership & Diversity as Tools Toward Growth While women are leading inclusive Covid-19 responses across the globe, they are also facing drastically higher job losses due to the current economic crisis. This discussion will focus on how leadership and diversity programs can support women as they forge an economically empowered path.
• G2P Payments in Response to Covid-19 Digitized G2P (government-to-person) payment programs are being deployed by governments around the world to mitigate the economic impact of Covid-19. Panelists in this session will explore how G2P programs can instigate Covid- 19 recovery and make meaningful advances toward financial inclusion for low-income women.
• The Business Case for Gender Lens Investing Covid-19 has laid bare the disparities embedded in our financial system – despite the ever-widening gap, this presents a unique opportunity to reinforce the business case for gender lens investing. Panelists in this session will discuss how gender-lens investing can improve business performance and facilitate a quicker global economic recovery.
• RegTech as a Path to Financial Inclusion As Fintechs disrupt the financial industry, Regtech is playing an increasingly vital role in closing the account access gap for unbanked and underserved women. This discussion will outline how RegTech can mitigate risk and help businesses navigate regulatory compliance issues by providing affordable solutions to banks and Fintech companies.

2:10pm – 3:00pm: Supporting Access to Finance for MSMEs and Women-Owned Businesses
 Women-led SMEs and MSMEs are among the hardest hit by the Covid-19 crisis, due to their over-representation in the services, small manufacturing, and trade sectors. This plenary session will outline how governments, banks, and other financial providers can adopt gender-sensitive responses to sustain women-owned businesses in the immediate aftermath of the crisis and throughout recovery.

3:05pm – 3:10pm: Closing Remarks

3:10pm – 4:10pm: Virtual Networking

Building Resilience by Making Finance Work
for Women
Wednesday, October 21st (EDT):

10:45am: Virtual Registration Opens

11:00am – 11:10am: Opening Remarks

11:15am – 12:15pm: Long-term resilience in a post-COVID world

The call to ‘build back better’ after Covid-19 is echoing across the world, as we grapple with labor market disruptions, burdened health-care systems, and plummeting economies. There is a vital need to build long-term resilience for low-income women. Experts in this plenary session will discuss how leaders, governments, and societies can build a more prosperous, equitable, and inclusive post-pandemic world by focusing on women’s economic empowerment.

12:15pm – 1:00pm: Virtual Networking Break

1:00pm – 2:30pm: Fintech Innovation Challenge

The four finalists from Women’s World Banking’s 2nd Annual Fintech Innovation Challenge – Boost Capital, Mujer Financiera, myAgro, and Tyme – will present their pitches in front of a panel of expert judges. The judges will assess these innovative solutions designed to help women build resilience and recover from economic shocks such as Covid-19.

2:30pm – 2.50pm: Virtual Networking Break

2:50pm – 3:30pm: Fireside Chat | Innovation to Build Resilience for Low-Income Women

Covid-19 has triggered a mass migration from analog to digital. Despite this shift, low-income women are missing out on important benefits due to the growing digital gender divide. This fireside chat will feature the winners from the 2019 Fintech Innovation Challenge and a discussion on how Fintechs are adapting in the wake of Covid-19 to foster greater resilience for low-income women.

3:40pm – 4:00pm: Closing Remarks

Making Finance Work for Women events showcase over 40 years of experience in the financial inclusion sector and aim to drive actions that accelerate opportunities for low-income women around the world. Partnering with Women’s World Banking’s Making Finance Work for Women event can help reach your audience and increase your presence in the financial inclusion space.