Women and communities in the most remote and biologically diverse regions of the country will receive financial literacy training after a Cooperation Agreement between the Centre for Excellence in Financial Inclusion (CEFI) and the US Government through the United States Agency for International Assistance (USAID).
These trainings are part of the Lukautim Graun Program, a USAID funded environmental conservation program operating in the most diverse and vulnerable parts of Papua New Guinea.
In signing the formal agreement to launch the trainings, Chief of Party for USAID PNG Lukautim Graun Program, Mr. Maurice Knight said the financial literacy trainings will improve economic conditions for women and communities while at the same time promoting conservation of the country’s exceptional biodiversity.
“Empowering emerging female entrepreneurs with both business and environmental skills will increase income for rural families and reduce hunting and illegal wildlife trade,” Mr Knight said. “Unless women and girls are empowered to fully participate in the economy, PNG will not be able to meet its development targets.”
Executive Director for CEFI Mr. Saliya Ranasinghe said that financial inclusion is identified as an important priority in the implementation of CEFI’s third financial inclusion strategy which women and youth are important under the digital financial services and financial literacy and financial education.
USAID Development Specialist Julie Hulama said this cooperation agreement between USAID Lukautim Graun Program and CEFI aligns with USAID’s 2020 Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment Policy that affirms USAID’s vision of a prosperous and peaceful world in which women, girls, men, and boys enjoy equal economic, social, cultural, civil, and political rights and are equally empowered to secure better lives for themselves, their families, their communities, and their countries.
Lukautim Graun Program implements its project at the national level and along the Bismarck Forest Corridor that covers Eastern Highlands Province, Jiwaka Province, Madang Province, Simbu Province, YUS Conservation Area in Morobe Province, and Milne Bay Province for the marine program.