Pacific women receive training boost through new ANZ and UNDP financial literacy partnership

ANZ Banking Group and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) today announced a new partnership to deliver ANZ’s adult financial education programmes, MoneyMinded and Business Basics, to empower women in rural areas in Tonga, and Vanuatu.

The partnership will see accredited ANZ facilitators deliver financial education with female market vendors, entrepreneurs and small business owners across a number of UNDP supported projects.

Patrick Tuimalealiifano, Deputy Team Leader of Inclusive Growth Programme at the UNDP Pacific office, said this partnership is about more than just balancing a budget.

“We want to help rural market vendors, predominantly women, move away from subsistence living, and MoneyMinded has proven success in helping Pacific people create a positive vision for their future,” he said.

“We have one programme in particular that is about empowering women to take a more prominent role in their family’s financial decision-making. Building their confidence at home translates into confidence in the community and we start seeing these women emerge as community leaders, entrepreneurs and businesswomen. It’s a slow process and it starts in the household.”

ANZ Regional Executive Pacific, Tessa Price, said the partnership with UNDP enables ANZ MoneyMinded to reach deeper into rural communities and target different groups,   particularly women.

“We’ve already done a lot of work with a number of different groups, including seasonal workers who receive MoneyMinded training before they travel to Australia and New Zealand.  This partnership with the UNDP means we will be reaching into rural communities and to women who are at the heart of the household,” Ms Price said. 

The partnership forms part of the UNDP’s COVID-19 Pacific Response: Sustainable Livelihoods Challenge – a grassroots project aimed at supporting communities, particularly those in rural areas, battling with the socio-economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.

ANZ Fiji Country Head Saud Minam said MoneyMinded helped bring money confidence and modern banking facilities to more rural areas.

“We’re seeing more people in rural areas building their knowledge about saving and planning for the future, and accessing modern banking facilities such as our ANZ Pacific App,” Mr Minam said.

“Equipped with these banking services and MoneyMinded skills, returning seasonal workers, and villagers who run their own small businesses in rural communities, such as market vendors, can spend more time building a sustainable income to protect their livelihoods and support their families.”

The programmes will also be delivered to women Fiji, Kiribati, Solomon Islands.