The formal financial inclusion gender gap in Solomon Islands stands at 15%, one of the highest
in the Pacific region. Women are more likely than men to turn to informal financial services to
meet their financial needs. This is driven largely by sociocultural norms which cause a wide
disparity in literacy, employment and economic agency between men and women. Formal
financial inclusion contributes directly to women’s economic empowerment: evidence from
Solomon Islands shows that access to financial products correlates with a greater involvement
in household spending and drives the establishment and growth of women-owned business.

To address the gender gap, UNCDF has developed a global “PoWER” strategy (Participation
of Women in the Economy Realized) to drive women and girls’ economic empowerment by
improving their access to, usage of, and agency over financial services. UNCDF has previously
carried out multi-country assessments to gain a deeper understanding of the country-specific
constraints that women and girls face in Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Myanmar, Senegal and Tanzania.
The PoWER country assessment toolkit is available as a public good, to deepen understanding
of these constraints in other countries.

This document presents the results of UNCDF’s country assessment in Solomon Islands bringing
together evidence collected from desk research, 27 key informant interviews, six focus group
discussions and a survey of 400 women and girls. The analysis seeks to understand key constraints and enablers of women and girls’ access, usage and control of finance in Solomon Islands.

This publication is brought to you by the Pacific Financial Inclusion Programme (PFIP). PFIP is
jointly administered by the UN Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) and the United Nations
Development Programme (UNDP) and receives funding from the Australian Government,
the European Union, the New Zealand Government.