Microcredit 'helps to empower women'

from The Bangkok Post

ANJIRA ASSAVANONDA

Chiang Mai _ Microcredit for underprivileged women is an effective tool to alleviate poverty in Asean countries, a seminar was told yesterday. The issue was highlighted at the regional workshop on microcredit programmes for Asean women.

Participants shared experiences and discussed how microfinance could empower women economically.

The workshop was part of the sixth meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) committee on women, being hosted by the Thai government in Chiang Mai province from Nov 6 to 9.

Suwit Kuntaroj, head of the Office of Women's Affairs and Family Development, cited a World Bank report which stated that more than half of the world's four billion poor people _ those with an average annual income of less than $1,400 (about 47,600 baht) _ were women.

Of those poor women, over 90% had no access to loans and credit from banks or other financial institutions because of the complicated lending processes and requirement for a guarantor or assets to be placed as collateral, the report said.

Mr Suwit said such problems had obstructed the poor from developing their economic potential, and also widened the income disparity between the rich and the poor.

Jitraporn Techacharn, head of the Office of Small and Medium Enterprise Promotion under the Industry Ministry, said women were at a great disadvantage when it came to economic activity and industry.

Women's wages in Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand, for example, were lower than those earned by men in the manufacturing sector, Ms Jitraporn said.

In all Asean economies, the estimated income of men was twice as much as that of women, she said.

In countries such as the Philippines, Indonesia and Cambodia, there were a lot more unemployed women than men, she said.

''With such disadvantages, it is constructive to promote women into the circles of entrepreneurs where they can fully utilise their competency. And one can become a successful entrepreneur with a start from a micro enterprise,'' said Ms Jitraporn.

In Thailand, microloans granted to women also came from the community's self-reliant credit providers, which were homegrown entities at the grassroots level, she said. In some communities, women were largely key operators of the units developed from strong housewife-group businesses. Some entities have grown to become savings groups, credit unions, or even village banks.

Ganesh Thapa, of the International Fund for Agricultural Development, cited some indicators that microfinance schemes have provided significant economic and social empowerment of women. Those projects also encouraged more savings among the poor and reduced domestic violence against women.

A representative from Indonesia cited the case of a woman in Larantuka sub-district who was able to improve her life and support four people in her family after she borrowed some money from the microcredit group in her community.

''When women have the opportunity to get access to credit, they tend to be more conscious than men of the risk of rapid growth, and tend to deliberately adopt a constant slow expansion to minimise the risk,'' said the representative.