Women have been given priority in financial literacy training through the assistance from the U.S Agency for International Development (USAID).
USAID supports 477 people to graduate from financial literacy training in Lae, Morobe Province, with a majority 415 (87 percent) of the total number of graduates all women.
This is part of USAID’s commitment through the PNG Lukautim Graun Program (LGP) and its partnership with Center for Excellence in Financial Inclusion (CEFI), to deliver financial literacy training for Papua New Guineans, with a focus on economic empowerment of women and people from rural communities.
For many people in PNG, especially women and marginalized populations living in rural and remote communities, it can be difficult to access basic financial services like banking, and saving and loan schemes to grow their small-scale business and improve their livelihood prospects.
With USAID support, eight CEFI certified trainers conducted financial literacy training between July 25 to August 5, at seven different locations in Morobe Province, including Tent City Primary School, Abong Literacy School, Tent City Stage Three, Kamkumung, Poaba Village, Tanam Village, and Nasuapum Village.
As a result, 477 participants graduated with financial literacy certificate and now have an improved understanding about the basic principles of saving and budgeting, which are the foundational skills for creating new enterprises and increasing household and personal financial security.
Elizabeth Bou, a teacher from Tent City Primary School said, “I’m so happy that I attended this training. Even though I’ve been a teacher for 39 years, I haven’t been very good at budgeting and saving.
“Through this training, I have realized my mistakes. This will be my last year of teaching and I plan to pass on the skills and information I’ve learnt from this training to help others in my community like our local women’s and church groups”.
Participants who complete the financial literacy training are given the opportunity to open saving accounts with MiBank, a nationwide micro-bank. In addition, graduates become eligible to apply for access to MiBank’s lending options for growing their small-scale or improving their livelihood activities.
Lanes Jeari, a resident of Abong said “Thank-you to USAID for this training, it has helped me open a new bank account with the bank (MiBank). I can now visit the bank and save some money from my table sales business”.
Led by Cardno International Development – a DT Global Company, USAID’s PNG LGP works in partnership PNG Government, local communities, and a range of implementing partners from the private sector, faith-based organizations, and civil society organizations.
The overall objective of USAID’s LGP program is to empower traditional landowners to manage their resources and particularly to economically empower women as full participants in PNG’s economy.
By improving people’s livelihood prospects USAID is building local capacity by helping communities to reduce pressure on forest resources and contribute to protecting PNG’s rich biodiversity for future generations.