Posted by: Taea Calcut
Microfund for Women staff discuss operations in a meeting
Interview with:
Nina Robertson, Marketing and Non-Financial Services Manager, Microfund For Women
Since its inception in 1994, the Microfund for Women (MFW) in Jordan has assisted microentrepreneurs - and in particular, women - to improve and expand their enterprises through a range of financial and non-financial services. In this interview with MIX, MFW Marketing and Non-Financial Services Manager Nina Robertson details how MFW prioritizes the hiring and skills development of female staff and provides trainings to bolster the business acumen of female clients, all while operating in a country where women’s participation in the labor force remains among the lowest in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region.
MIX: MFW’s Board and staff feature more women on average than any of the other 13 MENA MFIs reporting social performance data to MIX. For example, 56% of your Board is composed of women while the average for MENA is 26%. Likewise, 73% of your staff is female, with the majority of both management and loan officer positions filled by women, while the average for the region is 47%. What are some factors that have contributed to women being so widely represented among MFW leadership and personnel?
Ms. Robertson: MFW does not have a quota for female staff; however, it is our intention to employ more women than men for a number of reasons. First, and perhaps most importantly, our mission is to empower women economically and socially. Therefore, we strive to achieve our mission by not only targeting female clients but also by ensuring that a majority of women are represented across all levels of our staff. Second, in the cultural climate in which we are operating, it is preferable that our female clients are served by female staff. Finally, hiring women enables us to gauge the real needs of the women we serve, build strong working relationships with them, and develop carefully targeted, gender-sensitive products and services.
MIX: MFW is 1 of only 2 MFIs from MENA that offer women’s leadership training. How often are trainings conducted and who participates in them? What topics are covered in trainings?
Ms. Robertson: Each year, MFW nominates female members of its senior- and mid-level staff to participate in the Leadership Workshop provided by Women’s World Banking, of which MFW is an affiliate. The five-day workshop challenges participants to reflect on their own leadership, think strategically in competitive and evolving environments, build financial and social acumen to navigate the complexity of the industry, and effectively manage relationships with clients, staff, and external stakeholders.
MFW also provides training to its female clients. In 2008, we expanded our mandate to include non-financial services. This was kicked off by a pilot project that aimed to build the capacities and increase the incomes of MFW clients running businesses in the cottage food industry by providing them with technical assistance, food hygiene and safety training, and businesses development training. MFW also assisted some of the clients in marketing and selling their products. The project has yielded great success, with 40 women graduating and reporting increased confidence and respect within their homes and communities.
Based on the pilot project’s achievements, MFW will expand the outreach of its non-financial services in 2010 by providing business development training to more of its clients. The training covers essential topics relevant to any industry, including promotion, bookkeeping and accounting, packaging, pricing strategies, time management and basic sales techniques. Training lasts for 12 hours and, based on clients’ preferences, can be broken down into six two-hour sessions.
A Microfund for Women client at work
MIX: MFW is 1 of only 3 MFIs reporting from MENA that has specific policies in place that support women’s mobility in the field. What challenges do female staff face in the field that might differ from those faced by men? How has MFW addressed these challenges?
Ms. Robertson: In some of the communities in which MFW serves, some people deem it unsuitable for women to work and to engage in fieldwork in particular. While these are isolated viewpoints, MFW has put into place policies that aim to keep to an absolute minimum any challenges our female staff might encounter. One way we achieve this is by employing people from within the same communities they will personally serve. This allows our staff members to feel completely comfortable and secure when in the field. In addition, our stringent hiring process helps to ensure that we employ candidates who are suitable for fieldwork, while the training they receive develops their knowledge and understanding of the nature of the work they are embarking upon and prepares them for working in the community. Finally, every MFW staff member is provided with a mobile phone and we use a closed group subscription from our network provider that allows free calls between staff. Contact between the branch and the field staff is very regular and field staff are required to inform their manager of their whereabouts at all times.
MIX: In 2005, the World Bank reported that female labor force participation in Jordan was one of the lowest in MENA, despite the country having one of the region's highest educated female populations. Is there any resistance among men and women in the communities where MFW works to its mission of providing funds to female entrepreneurs? How does MFW address that obstacle?
Ms. Robertson: It is very regrettable that women’s participation in the labor market is so low in Jordan, particularly when women’s levels of education are so high. As a female-focused organization, MFW tries to stem this tide by expanding opportunities for women in the workforce. Through our core business, we promote women’s entrepreneurship and, as highlighted earlier, we strive to create an enabling environment for women to work in.
We do face occasional resistance in small pockets within some the communities we serve. To mitigate this, we work with a number of community centers, women’s associations, schools, and youth centers across Jordan, which assist our branch managers in holding awareness sessions with community members on a quarterly basis. This purpose of these sessions is two-fold: they enable MFW to generate widespread awareness of the organization and its operations, and also to promote the benefits of microfinance. We invite existing clients to talk at these sessions sometimes, particularly clients from the same community where the session is held, which helps reinforce benefits as well as ease any apprehension felt by some of the participants. We also invite participants to visit their nearest branch, having found that it helps if they can familiarize themselves with the branch setting and meet staff as well as other clients.
Nonetheless, it is important to stress that any resistance within communities is insignificant in comparison to the support and encouragement we see towards women’s entrepreneurship.
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For more information about the Microfund for Women, visit http://www.microfund.org.jo/ or review social performance data reported to MIX Market at: http://www.mixmarket.org/mfi/mfw/files
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