100 million women to be empowered by 2020?

MUMBAI, INDIA: Tata Communications and MasterCard announced a CGI Commitment to Action to financially empower 25,000 women in the developing world, part of a larger vision to ultimately reach 100 million women.

The program will kick-off with pilot projects in India, Nigeria, Indonesia and Guatemala, targeting 25,000 women, serving as microcosms. The replication of these microcosms will enable scale with a vision to reach 100 million women by 2020.

The announcement was made at the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) Annual Meeting closing plenary, last month. For the endeavor, the partners have tied-up with Brightstar, Kiva, Tone, Trickle Up and the Hidary Foundation to bring their shared vision to life over the next five years through access to transformative mobile platforms comprising a range of financial, health and education applications and services.

In developing countries, 200 million fewer women than men are online, and 300 million fewer women own a mobile phone. Yet, research also shows that the impact of empowering women financially is tremendous starting with their ability to raise the living standard of the entire household given that they are more likely to spend their income on establishing healthier and sustainable lifestyles for their families, the companies said in a prepared statement.

“Three billion people will come online over the next decade primarily from the developing world. We now have our generation’s greatest opportunity to unshackle women from endless cycles of poverty and dependency by providing them with access to information and economic opportunities,” said Rangu Salgame, CEO, Growth Ventures Group, Tata Communications.

“Two billion adults globally, the majority of them women, still don’t have a safe and easy way to receive, store and use their money,” said Walt Macnee, Vice Chairman, MasterCard.

“We see an opportunity and responsibility to empower women with access to and control over their finances through digital financial tools. By financially including women around the globe, we take an important step towards poverty alleviation, equality and economic prosperity,” he said.