MADRID, March 5, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- The BBVA
Microfinance Foundation (BBVAMF), together with the diplomatic
delegates from Spain, Colombia and UN Women, has gathered key
international development players at the UN Headquarters in
New York, to address the
Sustainable Development Goals and Financial Inclusion, where a
special focus has been set on Women and Innovation. Jessica
Hernández, a Colombian female entrepreneur of the Foundation, has
become the face and the voice of the million vulnerable women
served by the BBVAMF in Latin
America - enterprising women who are good examples of how,
when given a chance, they can overcome adversities even when
relying only on limited resources.
"I am a woman, I am an entrepreneur and I'm not afraid to start
a new business and make it successful," she has said during a
conversation with María Emma Mejía, Colombian Ambassador to the
United Nations. At 28 years old, Jessica speaks with determination,
confident that she is providing for her four children and managing
with two small businesses in Soacha, a district on the outskirts of
Bogota and prioritized by the
Government in the peace process.
Without any word of complaint, she has spent years walking
through her neighborhood while carrying a washing machine so she
could rent it by the hour to local residents. She asserts that she
lacks nothing but time; to take care of her kids and boost her
8-month old project consisting of a small sewing workshop for kids'
clothes. Beyond that, she feels lucky: finally her house has new
roofing and refrigerator. "Nobody else took a chance on a penniless
mother heading a household," she claims, referring to the support
she received from Bancamía, the Colombian MFI of the BBVA
Microfinance Foundation.
"We cater to the needs of low-income entrepreneurs, the majority
of them women, just like Jessica, who with their work and effort,
are able to improve their lives and contribute to their
communities," Javier M. Flores, CEO
of the Foundation has declared during his intervention. "We support
these entrepreneurs, almost two million of them, by providing a
wide range of financial services over time to foster their
sustainable development, which is our mission," he has assured.
The BBVA Microfinance Foundation, aligned with the
SDG
The Foundation's work is aligned with the 17 Sustainable
Development Goals (SDG), the UN's universal roadmap so that the
year 2030 could see a better world. According to Achim Steiner, UNDP's highest
representative, "financial inclusion is central to achieve the
2030 Agenda and the SDG; it constitutes the veins the Agenda
for Sustainable Development runs on." He has also addressed the
role played by technology in development, stating that it "makes
the financial system more accessible to people." "It is changing
the way development happens," he has concluded.
During her presentation, Mary
Snapp, Vice President of Microsoft
Philanthropies, shared that, "in this age of innovation, we
must ensure that no one is left behind. There is enormous potential
for women entrepreneurs to participate in the digital economy."
Irene Arias, CEO of the
IDB Group's Multilateral Investment Fund, has highlighted
that gender equality is today "a cross-cutting issue for
governments, companies, and civil society." And she has added that
that today, more than ever, "technology and the digital
transformation will be the single most important factor in the
expansion of financial opportunities for women, many of whom do not
share in the benefits generated by today's financial markets."
According to the IDB, in Latin
America, small and medium enterprises are the backbone of
the region's economy. They represent more than 90% of all
businesses, generating over half of the total employment.
With regards to entrepreneurship, it is the region with the
highest gender parity: for every 10 male entrepreneurs, there are 8
enterprising women. In Europe,
this proportion goes down to five women for every ten men,
according to the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM).
According to UN Women, in countries such as Peru or Panama where the BBVA Microfinance Foundation
operates (aside from Colombia,
Chile and the Dominican Republic), 35% of single mothers
live with less than 50% of the average income. Furthermore, for
every 100 men in the region, aged 25-34 years old, living in
extreme poverty, there are 132 women living under the same
condition. Like what UN Women representative Anuradha Seth has shared in her closing
remarks, "Promoting women's access to finance boosts income growth
and income security. It is through these channels that financial
inclusion accelerates poverty reduction – the overarching Goal of
the 2030 Agenda." A path that we need to pursue unitedly, side by
side, so that women like Jessica could access not only the
opportunity, but also the tools she needs to lead a better
life.
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SOURCE BBVA Microfinance Foundation