Our Goal
To empower women economically so their enterprises can flourish, and improve their ability to impact their families and communities’ wellbeing, education and health.
The Challenge
We are the top global contributor to gender equality initiatives according to the OECD in 2020, 2021 and 2022.
The economic autonomy of women in Latin America and the Caribbean remains a challenge because the majority have informal employment, assume greater burdens of caregiving and unpaid domestic work, and participate in economic sectors particularly hit by economic crisis. The economic activities they engage in—commerce (61%) and services (20%)—generate less revenues, and only 9% are dedicated to agricultural activities.
Furthermore, 67% of the new entrepreneurs served by the BBVA Microfinance Foundation are single heads of households with dependents in their care. This trend has become an additional obstacle that increases the risk of them falling into poverty.
Gender gaps widened during the pandemic, and their levels of poverty and vulnerability have not decreased since then. 10% of women worldwide live in extreme poverty, on less than $2.15 a day, according to the United Nations. In Latin America, 62% of women are in a situation of multidimensional poverty, which implies that, in addition to a lack of economic resources, these women suffer deficiencies in health, education, and housing.
The Opportunity
Serving women entrepreneurs is betting on the future. Women are catalysts for progress due to their important contribution to the development of their families and their environment, to sustainable and inclusive growth, and to the reduction of poverty. Women entrepreneurs allocate 90% of their income to family and social prosperity, mainly by financing their children’s education, according to the FAO.
The Commitment
Know what is the vision and commitment of BBVA Microfinance Group on women’s economic empowerment.
The Strategy
BBVA Microfinance Foundation is committed to women’s economic empowerment. The Foundation serves 1.8 million entrepreneurs in the region (64% of the loan portfolio). Of all the entrepreneurs that came out of poverty in 2025 in our microfinance institutions, 7 in 10 were women.
Our strategy is based on three pillars:
Our Gender Lens value proposition
Financial services with a gender lens: we have developed individual credit products with digital financial education, products for rural women that do not require land ownership, or for victims of gender violence, some of them in alliance with public entities and Women’s Ministries. We have also developed communal banking products for those in situations of greater vulnerability, as well as individual loans for those with larger businesses, along with educational and health loans for women. We provide loans for the acquisition of digital devices under more favorable conditions to support the digitalization of their businesses.
Non-financial services: we complete our value proposition with training in digital skills, online marketing, and leadership, together with other allies such as IDB Lab, Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth, Care, CAF, Fundes, Vital Voices, Fundación Pepsico, Fundación Kodea, Google, Wom, Tigo, CLARO, Eidos, Corotos, Trust for the Americas, among others.
We have built an Entrepreneur Digital Community where women can train on a free e-learning platform where we offer various training paths with content adjusted according to the needs and knowledge of each entrepreneur, as well as training to create online businesses, use digital payments, or partner up.We offer training content on gender roles on the virtual training platforms of our entities and offer financial education programs with a gender focus.
Caring for their well-being: We promote micro-insurance with a gender focus with oncological coverage, protected maternity offering financial aid for the breastfeeding period and nanny services, or specific health coverage for them (mammograms, health check-ups, psychological and legal consultations, pediatric and geriatric care, rural technical assistance) for between 1-3 dollars a month.
We also conduct studies to learn about the time they dedicate to caregiving and how gender roles influence financial decision-making in their households.
Internal Equity: Women’s empowerment is part of our corporate culture. We have equity and diversity committees in all our entities. We have promoted diversity and equity policies, inclusive communication manuals, and protocols against workplace sexual harassment.
Likewise, we offer training on unconscious gender biases for our collaborators and advisors, on gender roles, or new masculinities. We carry out leadership and mentoring programs for our female collaborators in order to promote female talent and their professional development. The FMBBVA has subscribed to the Women’s Empowerment Principles (WEPs) of UN Women, the United Nations Global Compact, and we have participated in the Gender Equality Seal of the UNDP.
In addition, we have participated in several editions of the PAR Ranking by Aequales, a free annual measurement tool, a leader in the Latin American region, that evaluates the gender equity conditions of more than 800 Latin American companies. Its more than 200 variables reflect the conditions of equity within the internal core of organizations. All our entities exceed or match the average results of their respective countries.
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