The World Bank, USAID, and other global development institutions need to invest more to expand access to financial services, particularly among women, according to a survey Devex conducted of its community members.
The survey, which was conducted in March and polled nearly 900 development professionals, showed that about two-thirds of respondents believe that the world’s development institutions are making a mistake by not doing more on issues related to financial inclusion, which they believe is crucial to making progress on the Sustainable Development Goals, or SDGs. These are 17 targets that United Nations member states agreed in 2015 to reach by 2030. They include the elimination of poverty and hunger and achieving gender equality.
Sixty-seven percent of Devex survey respondents said major development agencies are not investing enough in financial inclusion, while 33% said they are investing enough.
About the author
Omar Mohammed
Omar Mohammed is a Foreign Aid Business Reporter based in New York. Prior to joining Devex, he was a Knight-Bagehot fellow in business and economics reporting at Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. He has nearly a decade of experience as a journalist and he previously covered companies and the economies of East Africa for Reuters, Bloomberg, and Quartz.
