MM4P to host Lab Session at European Development Days.

Photo credit: EU Commission, EDD18

On June 6, 2018 from 9.00-10.15AM, the MM4P programme of the UN Capital Development Fund (UNCDF MM4P) will be moderating a Lab Debate session at the European Development Days 2018.

Four experts have been invited to take sides in answering this question: ‘Does digital finance afford empowerment opportunities to women clients, employees, and agents, or is it just a set of false promises?’

During the debate, the pro side will see Angelika Mendes-Lowney, Manager of Bilateral and Multilateral Partnerships at Women’s World Banking, and Lelemba Phiri, Chief Marketing Officer for Zoona, supporting the case of digital finance helping to create opportunities for women’s economic empowerment. They will share evidence of products and services that are adapted to women’s needs, habits and expectations and have therefore improved their quality of life.

On the con side, Grace Majara, Senior Advisor-Financial Inclusion at CARE International and Torbjörn Fredriksson, Chief at ICT Policy Section of the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) will argue that digital finance has not lived up to their development promises, especially for women, because we are getting distracted from the real problems: women’s role and status in their household and society as well as technological and regulatory challenges that limit women’s full access to and use of digital finance.

Have you already picked a side?