Pacific women receive training boost through new partnership

The Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited (ANZ) 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 five Pacific island countries: Fiji, Kiribati, Solomon Islands, 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.”

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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.”

About ANZ MoneyMinded and Business Basics

ANZ has already delivered MoneyMinded and Business Basics to over 20,000 people across the Pacific since 2010.

An independent report by Melbourne’s RMIT University into the impact of MoneyMinded, has found that the programme has significantly strengthened participants’ financial knowledge, skills and capabilities.

If you would like to register for a MoneyMinded course in the Pacific, email Vosawale.Tamani@anz.com with your name, contact phone number and location.

The 2019 MoneyMinded impact report can be found here.

About UNDP

UNDP partners with people at all levels of society to help build nations that can withstand crisis, and drive and sustain the kind of growth that improves the quality of life for everyone. On the ground in nearly 170 countries and territories, UNDP offers global perspective and local insight to help empower lives and build resilient nations. 

For media enquiries contact:
ANZ: Julia de Blaauw +64 226 539 938

UNDP Pacific Office: Evgeniya Kleshcheva +679 738 50 67

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