Six women from across the world have been awarded the 2014 Global Women’s Leadership Network scholarship and will be competing to receive Network support for a local credit union project.
The scholarship will enable them to gain access to a network of credit unions professional expertise. They also get to take part in the Global Leadership Forum (26-27 July) and World Credit Union Conference (27-30 July) in Gold Coast, Australia.
Scholarship recipients receive a one-year Network membership, varying levels of financial support for their participation in the Global Women's Leadership Forum, as well as the opportunity to receive technical and financial support for the implementation of their projects. In addition to registration for the World Credit Union Conference, the Forum and Network membership, the scholarship this year covers a five-night hotel stay in Gold Coast and a travel stipend.
They will be joining another 100 women from credit union movement from 13 different countries and take part in sessions aimed at growing their business knowledge and professional relations.
At the Leadership Forum they will present their projects to Network members, who will vote on which of the six scholarship winners will receive Network support for the implementation of their project. The winner will carry out the project from August 2014 through June 2015 and present their results at the 2015 Global Women’s Leadership Forum in Denver, USA.
One of the six women that were awarded the scholarship, Triza Tsiga Magreta of Mudi SACCO in Malawi designed a project that combines financial literacy training and savings mobilisation with a special group-lending model to strengthen economic capacities while enabling women to develop their leadership skills. She will be presenting her project at the 2014 Leadership Forum, hoping to receive Network implementation support to help her credit union increase opportunities for women in the local community.
"When women are financially empowered, they are in a better position to allocate resources that solve family challenges leading to improved family well-being," she said.
Brian Branch, president and chief executive of the World Council of Credit Unions (WOCCU), added: "This year the Network is taking another step forward in supporting international women's leadership by selecting and participating in the implementation of field programs that credit union women lead in their communities”.
More than 600 women from 40 countries have been involved with the Network since its inception, with regional sister society groups in multiple locations in the U.S. and around the world.
The other five women that received the scholarship and will be presenting their projects are: Niger Agamaliyeva, administrative manager of Azerbajan Credit Unions Association; Esther Cherono Keino, general manager of Cooperative Development - Belgut Rural Women SACCO of Kenya; Kristo Lozano, financial education specialist at San Mateo Credit Union in the USA; Elenita V. San Roque, manager member services of Association of Asian Confederation of Credit Unions in Thailand and Kortoe D. Woloquelli, Women’s coordinator at Trust Savings Credit Union Women’s Organization in Liberia.
Photo: Triza Tsiga Magreta of Mudi SACCO in Malawi (c) WOCCU
