Explore the latest global and regional insights from Women’s World Banking’s work in policy, leadership, women’s entrepreneurship, gender lens investing, and more.
By Agnes Salyanty & Maria Serenade Sinurat One morning in May 2022, Susanti (41), woke up with a sharp pain in her stomach. At first, she thought she was pregnant. But after an ultrasound, she received devastating news: a tumor was growing inside her. She immediately turned to BPJS Kesehatan,
Globally, 76.2% of the 75.6 million domestic workers are women. In Indonesia, approximately five million domestic workers, mostly from rural areas, migrate to urban centers, often working long hours and earning below the legal minimum wage. Despite their critical role in the economy, they remain largely marginalized from formal financial
To celebrate Women’s World Banking’s 45th anniversary, we are showcasing the voices of individuals from around the world who have shaped and touched Women’s World Banking journey since its inception in 1979 at Commission on the Status of Women to today! These are stories from across Women’s World Banking’s reach
In this policy brief, Women’s World Banking reviews the landscape of sex-disaggregated data and offers recommendations for the Indonesian Government to enhance its collection, management, and use. The focus is on leveraging supply-side sex-disaggregated data from the financial sector to meet regulatory objectives and promote women’s financial inclusion. Globally, financial
To celebrate Women’s World Banking’s 45th anniversary, we are showcasing the voices of individuals from around the world who have shaped and touched the Women’s World Banking journey since its inception in 1979 at Commission on the Status of Women till today. These are stories from across Women’s World Banking’s
Women’s engagement with financial services leads to their greater economic empowerment, including greater control over financial decisions and increased independence. However, three-quarters of the world’s women are still excluded from financial services. In Indonesia, rural women are among the most financially unserved and underserved populations. Women alone make up 63.8%
The Women’s Digital Financial Inclusion (WDFI) Advocacy Hub team recently met with coalition members and the larger women’s financial inclusion ecosystem in Addis Ababa. Ethiopia is home to one of the local coalitions, and two coalition members joined from Indonesia, home to the other local coalition (Dr. Arifah Rahmawati, Secretary
Report can be downloaded at the end of this article. When women have access to savings accounts, loans, and digital financial services, they gain greater control over their finances, make informed decisions, and have a safety net during emergencies. Yet, there exists a substantial global opportunity – $700 billion dollars’ worth
In Indonesia, five of every ten working-age women are engaged in the workforce compared to nine of every ten working-age men, the largest labor-force participation gap in Southeast Asia. This gap persists despite strong progress in education and health for women in Indonesia. Within leadership positions in the banking and
Women’s World Banking is pleased to announce the second call for applications from civil society organizations in the Women’s Digital Financial Inclusion Indonesia Coalition. The due date for the grant application is 30 April 2023. Grants will be disbursed in amounts of USD $10,000-$20,000 and will be announced by June 2023. The
When Agnes Salyanty, Southeast Asia Research Lead for Women’s World Banking, interviewed Indonesian women e-commerce entrepreneurs on how they use online platforms, two respondents stuck out as representatives of the innovation, flexibility, and boldness of the sector. “What impressed me was their willingness to experiment with both their products and
Until early 2023, 64.2 million MSMEs in Indonesia represented 96% of the labor force. Of these businesses, about two-thirds are women-owned. While not all of these are e-commerce businesses, 24% of MSMEs (~17.5 million MSMEs) have used e-commerce in marketing their products in 2021. This growing sub-segment of Indonesian businesses
By Vitasari Anggraeni, Elwyn Panggabean, Freya Nadira Women’s World Banking identifies regulations, mandates, or country level priorities such as presidential mandates or G20 recommendations that can be the driving force for women’s financial inclusion and engagement. During the 2022 G20 Presidency, held by Indonesia, women’s entrepreneurship served as one of
In this series we dive into the work happening around the world with Women’s Digital Financial Inclusion Advocacy Hub partners, and explore how they are driving women’s digital financial inclusion. As evidenced by last year’s Global Findex Report, digital financial inclusion isn’t just an urgent moral imperative, but an economic
This is the third in a three-part series examining a fresh approach to digital remittances in Indonesia. By Angela Ang, Elwyn Panggabean, and Ker Thao Over the last six months, we launched a pilot program with DANA, one of Indonesia’s largest e-wallet providers, to provide a digital remittance solution for
By Angela Ang, Elwyn Panggabean, Ker Thao, Nonggol Darapati As the world shifts to living in a new normal world, while still recovering from the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, no other shift has been greater than the shift from traditional economies to what is now known today as the
By Angela Ang and Elwyn Panggabean, Women’s World Banking Last year, we collaborated with Bank Rakyat Indonesia (BRI), one of Indonesia’s largest state-owned banks involved in distributing benefits of the PKH (Program Keluarga Harapan or Family Hope Program), a conditional cash transfer program for low-income families. Together, we developed an
Indonesia has the largest number of Muslims of any country in the world, at 237 million. In recent years, the national Government of Indonesia and some of its province-level governments have shown interest in increasing the availability of Sharia-compliant financial products and services for Indonesians. Indonesia aims to reach 90
Micro-, small-, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) play a significant role in Indonesia’s economy, accounting for 61% of its gross domestic product. An even smaller segment—ultra-micro businesses—is helping drive economic growth, as well. Since 2017, Pusat Investasi Pemerintah (PIP), an Indonesian government agency, has disbursed loans to 5.4 million ultra-micro entrepreneurs,
Given COVID-19’s economic impact, this study is timely. The labour market force is shifting as employers reduce their workforce and childcare needs at home increase. Women’s livelihoods have changed. It is more critical now than ever to harness the power of digital platforms for women’s economic empowerment. This report summarizes
This is the second in a three-part series examining a fresh approach to digital remittances in Indonesia. By Angela Ang, Elwyn Panggabean, and Ker Thao For domestic workers in Indonesia, remittances provide a critical means of support for their families. As we noted in our first blog, domestic workers need
By Angela Ang, Elwyn Panggabean, Ker Thao, and Razaq Manan It’s a beautiful Tuesday afternoon. Irma* is cleaning her sister’s house, while also looking after her four-year-old son. She is worried whether this week’s income from cleaning sufficient to cover her household expenses. Her husband, a local fisherman, gave her
This is the first in a three-part series examining a fresh approach to digital remittances in Indonesia. By Angela Ang, Elwyn Panggabean, and Ker Thao In Asia, Indonesia has the second largest migrant population, with international migrant workers comprising a large portion of the economy. There are approximately 4.5 million
Enliven Indonesia’s Independence Day Through Digital Financial Service Education Program Jakarta, August 2021 – The informal sector, which comprises domestic workers, plays a critical role in Indonesia’s economy. Referring to Statistics Indonesia’s (BPS) data, there are 78.14 million informal workers as of February 2021, making up 60 percent of Indonesia’s
By Whitney Mapes, Elwyn Panggabean, Angela Ang, and Agnes Salyanty Over the past year and a half, Women’s World Banking has collaborated with Bank Negara Indonesia (BNI), one of the Indonesia’s largest state-owned banks involved in distributing benefits of the PKH (Program Keluarga Harapan or Family Hope Program), a conditional
Women’s financial inclusion and economic empowerment are critical building blocks in development. Between now and 2030, the target date for the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, the inclusion of women in the financial sector and their economic engagement and empowerment will unlock major milestones on the road to a more
Women’s Economic Empowerment: In 2020 and 2021, Women’s World Banking conducted exploratory research — both qualitative and quantitative — to map the linkages between women’s financial inclusion and women’s economic empowerment in Indonesia. Grounded in an analysis of norms governing women’s agency, ability to enact preferences, bargaining power, and financial
By Angela Ang, Andi Setianto, Whitney Mapes, and Elwyn Panggabean As COVID-19 has exposed economic fault lines around the world, governments have responded by extending economic lifelines to the most vulnerable populations. According to the World Bank, at least 200 countries and territories have offered some kind of COVID-19-related financial
In May 2020, Women’s World Banking conducted its first remote research during the Covid-19 pandemic with 44 beneficiaries, PKH facilitators, and bank agents across 11 districts of Indonesia. The research reveals that further efforts are needed to ensure beneficiaries have critical information about the program to support their financial planning and
Financial inclusion is becoming more and more digital. To accelerate this journey to digitization, and not let women customers be left even further behind, we need to ensure policymakers and financial service providers focus on effectively supporting women customers build their digital financial capabilities, so they can use digital financial services with ease and confidence. This report
By Julie-Ann Guivarra, Ambassador for Gender Equality, DFAT and Mary Ellen Iskenderian, CEO & President, Women’s World Banking In 2016, Women’s World Banking and the Australian Government, through the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), teamed up to build a more secure and prosperous future for low-income women in
This renewed, four-year partnership will enable Women’s World Banking to accelerate its support for low-income women throughout Southeast Asia, with a focus on COVID-19 recovery and resilience New York, October 22, 2020 – Women’s World Banking announces that Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) has renewed its support
By Sophie Theis, Victoria Johnson, Rahmi Yunaningsih, and Elwyn Panggabean Indonesia’s Ministry of Social Affairs (MoSA) was uniquely positioned to rapidly modify its conditional cash transfer program in response to the Covid-19 outbreak. As government-to-person (G2P) payment programs around the world adjust to accommodate the reality of the pandemic, Women’s
Financial institutions and governments have been working for years to leverage digitized G2P for women’s financial inclusion and economic empowerment. COVID-19 has increased the stakes, as governments look to use G2P programs to strengthen women’s resilience. New research from Women’s World Banking offers insights on Indonesia’s PKH program, the country’s largest conditional cash transfer. Click here to download the
By Sophie Theis, Giudy Rusconi, Elwyn Panggabean, Sonja Kelly Women’s World Banking’s research shows government-to-person payments, if well-designed, hold potential for women’s economic empowerment and inclusion in Indonesia. With Covid-19, the stakes are even higher. For more than a decade, the financial inclusion community has recognized the potential of digitizing
Unlocking Credit for Women Owned Businesses This report summarizes efforts by Women’s World Banking to answer three key questions about unlocking credit for women owned businesses and for women entrepreneurs around the globe: Which value chains in Cambodia, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Vietnam represent priority opportunities to develop increased credit
This blog summarizes findings from a new Women’s World Banking research report available here. In India and Indonesia, women have long battled a litany of challenges to start and expand their own businesses. Constraints related to low access to capital, restricted mobility, limitations on property rights, time poverty, and gender
With support from Standard Chartered and the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Women’s World Banking conducted research in India and Indonesia to investigate the potential of social commerce to advance women entrepreneurs’ financial inclusion.
In April, Women’s World Banking convened policymakers from around the world—including Indonesia—at Oxford University’s Saïd School of Business for a leadership program for regulators focused on the development and promotion of policy initiatives for women and supporting banks in creating a pipeline of women leaders internally. This is not the first time that Women’s World Banking has partnered with regulators in Indonesia to encourage financial inclusion.
An important editorial on widening women’s access to financial services by Taimur Baig, Chief Economist of DBS Bank and member of Women’s World Banking’s Southeast Advisory Council, has been published in a special IMF edition of The Jakarta Post.
On International Women’s Day, the Secretariat of the National Council for Financial Inclusion of Indonesia (Secretariat) and global nonprofit Women’s World Banking announce a partnership to promote women’s financial inclusion in Indonesia. The project, made possible with funding from the Department of Foreign and Trade of Australia (DFAT), will support Indonesia’s goal to reach 75 percent financial inclusion by 2019.
