WEE-Connect is delighted to announce the official launch of its second Request for Proposals (RFP) through this engaging webinar. This session will explore the transformative potential of digital connectivity, with an emphasis on health use cases, in advancing women’s empowerment across South Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa, and Southeast Asia.
The webinar will feature:
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Keynote Address by Rachel M. Heath, who will discuss the potential of the Initiative from her perspective as both a WEE-Connect board member and a WEE-Connect grantee.
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Presentation on RFP Guidelines by Kym Cole, Initiative Director of WEE-DiFine and WEE-Connect, who will provide an overview of the RFP, including submission requirements, priority focus areas, and tips for a successful proposal.
Participants will have the opportunity to engage through interactive Q&A sessions, live polling, and access to follow-up resources such as office hours and coaching calls to support proposal development.
This event underscores WEE-Connect’s commitment to fostering rigorous research, building inclusive knowledge hubs, and promoting equitable research partnerships.
Reserve your spot today: https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZ0qd-Crqz4oGtwBCUxg9qvpMrocSVKfYpKa
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As part of Financial Inclusion Week 2024, we hosted a compelling panel discussion on advancing women’s financial inclusion in Bangladesh through digital innovation. This session, organized by the Alliance for Financial Inclusion, brought together experts from various sectors to explore collaborative strategies for expanding digital financial services to women consumers in one of the world’s fastest-growing mobile money markets.
Our distinguished speakers included:
- Dr. Leora Klapper, Lead Economist, World Bank – Expert on women’s empowerment through DFS.
- Dr. Zaki Wahhaj, Professor, University of Kent – Expert on women’s empowerment through DFS in Bangladesh, currently working on a WEE-DiFine funded study titled ‘Empowering Poor Urban Women in Bangladesh through Digital Financial Services: Does Wage Payment via Mobile Money translate into Economic Empowerment?’
- Shahana Ferdousi, Additional Director, NFIS Administrative Unit, Bangladesh Bank – Expert on Women’s Financial Inclusion Data (WFID) Dashboard.
- Moinuddin Mohammed Rahgir, Chief Financial Officer, bKash – Offers an industry perspective on innovative strategies for expanding digital financial services to women.
- Dr. Imran Matin, Executive Director, BRAC Institute of Governance and Development (BIGD), BRAC University – Moderator of the panel discussion.
This panel was part of BIGD’s ongoing WEE-DiFine and WEE-Connect Initiatives, funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. These initiatives aimed to generate rigorous evidence on the impact of digital financial services and digital connectivity on women’s economic empowerment across South Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa, and Southeast Asia.
The discussion offered practical, scalable solutions for enhancing financial inclusion for women in Bangladesh, with lessons applicable to similar contexts worldwide.
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When, how, and why do women’s power struggles succeed in retaining power and sustaining their gains against backlash? In answering this question, BRAC Institute of Governance and Development (BIGD) has conducted research under the Sustaining Power: Women’s Struggles against Contemporary Backlash in South Asia (SuPWR) from 2019 to date. This five-year multi-country research project, spanning Bangladesh, India, Nepal, and Pakistan, was funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) and led by the Institute of Development Studies at the University of Sussex.
In Bangladesh, the research focused on coalition building within women’s movements to counter backlash from state and non-state actors. The four contemporary women’s struggles studied included the anti-child marriage efforts with the Girls Not Brides alliance, comprehensive sexuality education initiatives with the Right Here Right Now coalition, rape law reform (RLR) advocacy, and the trade union movement for decent wages led by the Bangladesh Garments Workers Solidarity (BGWS). After four intensive years of data collection from 2020 to 2024, BIGD arranged a residential validation workshop on 5 and 6 October 2024 at the Bangladesh Academy for Rural Development (BARD) to share preliminary research findings with participants. The workshop also provided an opportunity for the movements to reflect, learn, and strategize to further strengthen their efforts.
For the first time, BIGD is pleased to have organized a live proposal development workshop in Dhaka, Bangladesh! The workshop helped teams craft competitive proposals in advance of the spring 2024 RFP deadlines for both the WEE-Connect and WEE-DiFine initiatives.