Women’s Empowerment Through Access to Finance
By Dr. Hosne Ara Begum, Founder & Executive Director, TMSS
At The Hunger Project, we believe that to create a world without hunger we must amplify the voices and leadership of grassroot civil society leaders. The essay that follows is from our partner Dr. Hosne Ara Begum, Founder and Executive Director of TMSS. TMSS is a women-focused Bangladeshi organization working for the alleviation of poverty and the overall improvement of livelihoods to address and contribute towards the achievement of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Every human being possesses the inherent qualities to lead an advanced and prosperous life. Some of these qualities may lie dormant, while some are already active or manifested. Education and training are essential for the realization of developmental qualities. If the training is practical and put into practice, individual development becomes easier. To continue the development practice, individuals must be actively involved in the enterprise, business, or industry.
Education is a crucial element of development. Getting an education and acquiring knowledge can be a costly endeavor. However, as the Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh has provided extensive subsidies for women’s education, the rate of women’s education in Bangladesh is increasing outstandingly. The number of educated unemployed women in Bangladesh is currently over fifteen lakhs (1.5 million), while the number of educated young men is over twelve lakhs (1.2 million).
The number of unemployed males is not less than unemployed females in any family. While men’s unemployment is frequently mentioned and discussed in society, women’s unemployment is not as widely acknowledged. As a result, men’s jobs, businesses, etc., are not considered crucial for women in terms of earning money. Women are far behind! The main reason for neglecting the backward position of women is that women are socially considered unsuitable for outdoor work. Due to such considerations, financial institutions and banks do not finance in favor of women. In the context of bank financing, the necessity arises for providing a stable or tangible collateral. In South Asian countries, including Bangladesh, women’s land resources are inferior. As a result, despite the government’s repeated efforts and declarations to promote women-friendly financing, women do not have access to bank financing. However, when honest, simple, hardworking, and thrifty women actively participate in economic activities, their success rate is almost 100%. Due to the lack of capital and financial underachievement, women faced severe oppression, deprivation, neglect, and harassment.
In various countries of South Asia, there is a saying: a woman’s husband is a man, a man’s husband is money.
The dominance, power, authority, arrogance, and rights of the husband are much greater than those of the wife. So, money is desired by everyone, and earning is not possible without money. If financing is easily available and extensive, labor resources and production increase. Poverty is alleviated when there is increase in labor resources. If poverty is not eradicated, the women and children of the family suffer the most. Not only in poverty but also in all kinds of disasters and calamities, women and children are more affected. The women and children of poor families more poor, ultra poor.
In the 1960s, microfinance emerged in South Asia and the subcontinent as an initiative led by the consciousness of government and private economists through cooperative societies. At that time, there was a lot of male involvement. But the success rate in microfinance was low, the failure rate was high. In the post-independence period of the 1980s in northern Bangladesh, numerous NGOs, including Grameen Bank, BRAC, Asha, and TMSS became involved in microfinance structured through public and private collaboration. This initiative was implemented in ward clubs (para/mohalla), centers, groups, and village organizations for the purpose of credit and microfinance, including almost 100% women as members. The approach involved i) Sensitizing the members ii) Creating awareness iii) Feasible Vocational Training iv) Voice Raise, Critics, Conflict, Bargaining), etc. providing capacity building training.
Marginalized and ultra poor family members in the remote villages of Bangladesh are also very poor in mind and thinking. They are unconscious, dreamless, thoughtless, hopeless, they live inhuman lives. To bring them in the light of development, with the five types of training described, the amount of financing, the type of business, who will do what business and when, the members have to decide in the meeting of the association. At the grassroots level, to address the complaints of the impoverished, facilitate the fulfillment of their needs, and ensure the active and joyful participation of members in discussion meetings, breakfast arrangements are made to ensure the members’ nourishment and prevent nutritional deficiencies (Malnutrition Protection). Poor marginalized women members need to undergo at least three months of training in five different areas, supported by grants/subsidies, with an average expenditure of three hundred BDT (3 USD) per head per month. Subsequently, they can access small loans/finances with flexible interest/no interest and without collateral. In Bangladesh context, this loan is called microcredit. Major Features of Microcredit are i) Credit among the resourceless/poor especially women ii) Collateral-free trustable credit iii) Hassle-free and access to the borrower’s doorstep iv) Role of the financier will be arrange basic education, training and skills for the borrower’s business/enterprise and v) In case of any danger or problem of the borrower, the financiers have to stand by and provide services.
More than 50% of women are poor in Asia continent and South Asia especially in Bangladesh. The main reason is that women do not get financing. Women can’t benefit by taking loans on tough terms without financing with five benefits from NGO MFIs. So, they are not careful or interested in taking loans/investments. For this, the Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh is increasing the coverage of women’s investment through NGO MFIs through various methods like Palli Karma Sahayak Foundation (PKSF), Bangladesh NGO Foundation (BNF), Bank, NGO Linkage Financing, Bangladesh Bank Incentive Fund etc. The Micro Credit Authority (MRA) was formed in 2006 as the government regulatory authority to regulate the ethics and discipline of NGO MFIs. As a result, women are already financing very small businesses, small businesses, medium businesses, micro enterprises, medium enterprises, and even big enterprises.
As a result, women are earning, money is in women’s hands. Both boys and girls are receiving education, and they have access to medical services. Family members are not deprived of nutrition; they are receiving medical care, and their health is improving. The poverty rate is decreasing, leading to the formation of happy families and content societies. Smiling faces are appearing on the women’s/mothers’ faces. The vision of my organization TMSS is “smiling face of women folk”. In this way, women’s empowerment is realizing through economic attainment.
Prof. Dr. Hosne-Ara Begum is a prominent Bangladeshi human rights and social activist, as well as an educationist, economist and environmentalist who is well known as the founder of Thengamara Mahila Sabuj Sangha (TMSS). Over the past four decades Prof. Dr. Hosne-Ara Begum has been honored with several awards and recognitions including the Ashoka Fellowship and the Begum Rokeya Padak. During the early years of her life, Prof. Dr. Begum experienced discrimination and abuse which ignited her passion to develop a genuine grassroots movement led by impoverished women and very quickly grew throughout northern Bangladesh. Prof. Dr. Begum has gained immense recognition for her work in Bangladesh both abroad as well as by Bangladesh Government. Some of the impact and successes of her work promote women’s empowerment both financially and socially. Prof. Dr. Begum is an ardent advocate for raising awareness for knowledge through education along with technological advancement.
