Chapter 3 Gender and Microfinance: The Field Level
3.5 Seizing opportunities for gender sensitivity at the field level
3.5.1 Holding a client stakeholder meeting
A stakeholder meeting should be conducted before formulating further initiatives or proposals for microfinance programme implementation at the local level. After conducting a participatory analysis of the status of access to financial services in a particular geographic location, and identifying the resources and constraints of particular groups, it is important that the findings are shared in a transparent and open manner. However, in many cultures details about the way individual women and men manage their finances and whether or not or how they share resources within the household is a very sensitive issue. Most people do not wish to discuss this in front of each other, let alone at the community level.
So the objectives of a client stakeholder meeting would be to share with potential clients the range of service the MFI could potentially offer, and give examples of what was offered in other villages, i.e. present what the MFI is doing and intends to do. Such a meeting would thus be a good way to share information and attempt to invite all stakeholders that have been consulted to a the meeting to learn more about the MFI. Learning by illustration is often a good way of showing potential clients what benefits they may obtain from the MFIs services, and it may be useful to invite a ‘successful’ entrepreneur from another nearby region, particularly a woman entrepreneur.
The identified constraints should be shared at the meeting. Discussion should be focused on opportunities for gender sensitive and sustainable rural finance strategies in order to overcome constraints identified. Ideally the organisation and agenda of such a meeting should be geared towards the setting up sustainable microfinance services.
In some cultures, a major constraint in conducting such a meeting is getting women to participate and attend. Primarily, this is often because the majority of bankers and project staff tend to be male and they then meet with and talk only to men in the village. Protocol often requires that the village leader/chief/mayor is consulted first. If only men are met, or attend such a meeting, it cannot be assumed that men will necessarily tell their wives about what went on at the meeting. Also the message can be distorted or lost in transmission.
MFI staff hence have to very clearly state that their services are for both women and men and also explicitly specify that women can also become involved in credit and savings or other services. If this is not stated, there may be a tendency for women to think it is only for men and they will not attend meetings or training. Likewise, MFI staff must specify clearly that women can also attend the meeting or else they will not go. It has to be a deliberate suggestion to the community.
Depending on the MFI products on offer, it might be important to state well in advance that individuals do not need to be able to read or write to attend a stakeholder meeting, as rural people will often assume that this is the case and may not attend because they feel ashamed or embarrassed to attend. Women in general have a lower literacy rate than men.
The meeting should be organized at the most suitable time for women as well as men, and recognize that their labour intensity differs throughout the day and during different seasons. The meeting should take place in the most centrally located place for the majority of the potential client stakeholders. Alternatively, but more costly, shorter but more frequent meetings or sessions can be held so that women do not have to be away from their household for extend periods in one day.
Appendix A3.9 has some additional suggestions for preparing a stakeholder meeting for determining microfinance services.
Client stakeholder meeting (source: IIRR 1998)
3.5.2 Starting with clients needs
The basic principles of strategic marketing inform us that we should always start with our clients needs. It is important to remember that microfinance activities should start with women’s and men’s own priorities, in light of what was identified in the socio-economic and gender analysis. This would be in contrast to designing microfinance services based only on the priorities and strategies of the microfinance intermediary. Basic questions that can be put forward for discussion at the client stakeholder meeting could include:
How are the interests of women served by providing financial services to both women and men, women alone, or men alone? This question could be asked about different categories of client stakeholders, such as landless farmers and petty traders.
What can be practically done to ensure that certain groups of women (and other different groups) are enabled to gain access to financial services in equal volumes as men?
How will a new microfinance service affect gender relations (and other socio-economic relations)?
One method is to get potential clients groups to list their expectations from a microfinance intervention and they types of problems, constraints, or obstacles that they think may occur. This can be done separately for women and men. It is important to also list what the microfinance intervention cannot deliver. Box 3.4 outlines how this can be done (adapted from Johnson, 1999).
Box 3.4: Potential microfinance intervention
What is expected by the community from the MFI
Constraints or obstacles that may occur
1. 2. 3.
What the MFI cannot deliver
Why not
1. 2. 3.
3.5.3 Institutionalising participatory feedback from clients
It is important to ensure that all the relevant information from client stakeholder meetings is actually fed into any planned microfinance activity. This will largely depend on whether or not all the relevant staff from the MFI attended such stakeholder meetings. It is necessary to establish from the outset what information is relevant for the planning of operational MFI activities and who needs to know what, as well as what decisions can be made based on this information. Whether further information is required will also be a consideration. If a written report is required, then it should be kept as short as possible and be written in simple language.
On a broader level, at a later stage, networks play an important role in institutionalising feedback from clients not only to the intermediaries but also to the government. Networks can help with the exchange of information; to gain psychological support and to improve business activities. MFIs can encourage clients to belong to networks, or can facilitate the creation of support groups, sub-sector member organisations, business clusters, women associations of entrepreneurs, or resource centres. MFIs can form networks themselves (as in the case of Women’s World Banking, the Microfinance Network, Cashpor and others), to lobby the government for issuing legislation favourable to microfinance and to entrepreneurship development. In addition networks are efficient vehicles for the dissemination of information and of best practices.