Ecuador, headquarters of the regional Training on Resilient and Inclusive Corporate Governance with a gender perspective

Between today and tomorrow, Ecuador will host the regional training on “Resilient and Inclusive Corporate Governance towards a gender approach”, organized by the Alliance for Financial Inclusion (AFI), the Superintendency of Banks of Ecuador and Asobanca. The objective of the event is, through public-private dialogue, to reach agreements between public policy makers and financial sector actors on the importance of taking actions from corporate governance to promote inclusive financial systems with a gender perspective.

Within the opening ceremony, complex gender indicators in finance were exhibited. Thus according to the report of Global Findex 2017, in the world, $ 1.7 billion of adults do not have an account, of which 56% are women.

Meanwhile, 72% of men have an account, women only reach 65%. ANDA gender gap of 7 percentage points also existed in 2014.

Additionally, a recent study of gender gaps referring to CAF’s financial capabilities reveals that only 30% of women in Ecuador claim to make financial decisions independently. Three out of every 5 women do not have enough income to cover their expenses for the month and there is a gap of 2% between men and women regarding having a savings account.

In the opening words Alfred Hannig, Executive Director of AFI highlighted the progress made by the Superintendency of Banks of Ecuador, who in turn holds the vice-presidency of AFI’s Financial Inclusion Initiative for Latin America (Filac), and invited participants to take advantage of this space for the exhibition of ideas, dialogue and experiences to promote female leadership in the financial sector in accordance with international best practices.

The Superintendent of Banks, Ruth Arregui, for its part, pointed out the concrete actions to promote and strengthen financial inclusion developed since its 2019 strategic planning, and made the announcement of the signing of the Mayan Declaration that is a commitment for Financial Inclusion, to be held at the Government Palace at 6:00 p.m. between AFI and the SB, in which the President of the Republic, Guillermo Lasso Mendoza, will participate as an Honorary Witness.

Meanwhile, the vice president of Asobanca, Marco Rodríguez made reference to the vocation of the private financial system to bring banking services closer to its customers, when talking about digitization and financial inclusion, citing the Financial Services Bulletin, published in July 2021, with data as of April 2021, in that it is appreciated that the number of debit cards was 8.7 million, with an annual increase of 9.5% (757,000 cards). Of the total debit cards, 6.4 million transactions were registered, representing an annual growth of 132.8%, that is, 3.7 million additional transactions.

On the other hand, the Minister of Economy and Finance, Simón Cueva explained that the Government supports gender initiatives. In this sense, he said that between 2020 and 2021 there has been a better budget execution in this sector. While in 2020 $ 369 million were executed throughout the year, in 2021 $ 443 have already been executed millions, only until September. This amount corresponds to what is delivered to entities that ensure gender equality. Among them: National Council for Gender Equality, the Judiciary Council, Ombudsman’s Office, INEC, MIES, Human Rights Secretariat, Prosecutor’s Office. Additionally, $ 11 million has been allocated for the Comprehensive National System for the Prevention of Violence against Women, 43% more than what was executed in all of 2020.

They participate as speakers in the event Superintendents of Banks, Ministers of State, Presidents of Private and Public Banks, Directors of Civil Society Organizations from Germany, United Kingdom, Finland, Malaysia, Mexico, El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras, Dominican Republic, Colombia, Argentina, Ecuador.