Women, who are usually given the enormous task of ensuring that family budgets are sufficient to pay for basic necessities and incidental expenses, often do not have the knowledge and skills needed to make wise financial decisions.

This was highlighted during the recent Financial Literacy and Education Summit hosted by the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago and Visa Inc. on the theme “Improving Women’s Financial Literacy and Capabilities Globally.”

Jason Alderman, director of Practical Money Skills for Life and writer of  the weekly column Practical Money Matters, said the governor of the Bank of Botswana stressed during the summit that it was important not only to teach women money management but also to avoid situations “such as Ponzi schemes or lending money to people without setting repayment and interest terms.”

We only need recall the Aman Futures Group’s alleged P12-billion pyramiding scam early this year whose victims were mainly female government employees and small entrepreneurs.

Participants at the summit pointed out that most women, particularly those in developing countries, had no bank accounts and were more likely to go to informal lending channels rather than financial institutions for their monetary needs. For Filipinos, of course, “informal lending channels” mean the 5-6 lenders—people who charge a 20-percent interest on loans.

Mexican journalist Adina Chelminsky, Alderman said, suggested that “banks and governments should think outside the box and develop new products that cater to women who have minimal savings.”

In the Philippines, as revealed during the Citi-FT Financial Education Summit 2012, several nongovernment organizations are already providing the microfinancing for small and medium entrepreneurial ventures. And banks, even a multinational institution like Citibank, are assisting and promoting these initiatives.

Women in developing nations like the Philippines can now avail of microloans  outside of traditional banks to buy the tools and resources they need to start their own businesses.

Alderman said Yaseen Anwar, governor of the State Bank of Pakistan, reported that in his country, even the popularity of the mobile phone has been harnessed for “branchless banking.” A microfinance provider used mobile-phone technology to bring its services to people who live far from banks.

“Women face unique economic and financial literacy challenges The key is for governments, financial institutions, educators and entrepreneurs to work together to devise financial tools and educational materials that can reach the female half of the world’s population—the younger, the better,” said Alderman.

Saving the children

Diseases caused by dirty water are major killers of young children. Despite significant progress in efforts to provide safe water to everyone, many Philippine communities remain unserved, leaving vulnerable children at risk.

To help reduce the problem, Robinsons Malls and the Vincentian Mission have partnered to bring low-cost clean water to selected urban and rural poor communities. Under Robinsons Malls’ Your Pocket of Change Can Change Lives project, shoppers get to donate P10 to the mission for every P2,000-P3,000 worth of purchases. They also get a Robinsons Eco Bag.

Meanwhile, the Technology Education and Skills Development Authority (Tesda) will be opening its Specialista Desks in Robinsons’ Lingkod Pinoy Center. The Specialista Desks will provide information on Tesda courses and programs, etc.

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