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social inclusion

Financial equality
Reducing the gender gap and transforming rural communities in Sonora
Through access to microcredits, Grameen de la Frontera works to empower women in southern Sonora, its general director, Paula Takashima, explains

Although in recent years the gender gap access to credit has been reduced in Mexico, women continue to lag behind men in access to financial services, but organizations such as Grameen de la Frontera are doing their bit to achieve financial inclusion.

Born 23 years ago, this non-governmental organization works mainly with women in rural communities in the south of the country. SonoraThe company's general manager says that they are already expanding to Hermosillo, Paula Takashima Aguilar.

"The main objective is to achieve financial inclusion in rural communities. Twenty years ago it was very complicated for a woman in an indigenous rural area to have access to financial services, much less to credit, so we were born with that task," she says.

Grameen de la Frontera began operations in Huatabampo, then expanded to Navojoa and Ciudad Obregón and is about to open an office in Hermosillo.

"Over the years, more than 55,000 families have benefited from loans, a significant number, and something that has been seen, as time went by, is that access to credit somehow empowers women, gives them the opportunity to have access to resources, to be able to have their own business, however, this is not enough to change the lives of rural communities, especially because we know that there are many needs," she acknowledges.

According to the results of the National Financial Inclusion Survey 2021In Mexico, 31.7% of women aged 18 to 70 had formal credit, but in communities of less than 15,000 inhabitants the percentage drops to 23.5 percent.

Takashima Aguilar emphasizes that Grameen de la Frontera has women as the axis of development because when a woman changes, everything around her will change.

"The goal is to achieve the transformation of rural communities, but always with women as the main focus," she reiterates.

He clarifies that the credit they handle is unsecured and is for what the person wants to undertake, understanding that Sonora is one of the largest states in the country and is very diverse.

"The regions have their own vocations, we have, for example, people who take credit and form their fishing cooperatives, those dedicated to farming, the food business: tortillas, empanadas, everything that is produced in the region, even handicrafts, it is very varied, it does not depend on us, but rather on the vocation of the regions and the skills they have," he explains.

Being a social project, the general manager of Grameen de la Frontera emphasizes that they have the cheapest interest rate in the market, no abusive contracts and accompany women in their entrepreneurial process so that they can grow their business and know how to manage it.

"We work closely with the universities and they become consultants, and we try to ensure that the credit is truly productive and that, far from being a problem for the family, it can solve needs," he stresses.

Grameen de la Frontera currently has around 4,500 women a month with active loans, in addition to developing complementary social programs that reach almost 7,000 additional beneficiaries a year, she explains.

They mainly work with children in the prevention of gender violence, school leveling, health prevention, zero hunger and breast milk bank. The objective is to develop a new mentality that will lead the new generations of rural communities to develop themselves.

ORIGIN OF GRAMEEN DE LA FRONTERA

The founder is Marshall Saunders, who passed away in 2020. He was a retiree from the United States who got together with a couple of friends, raised funds and came to do philanthropy in Mexico.

INTERNATIONAL RECOGNITION

For its social impact, Grameen de la Frontera is one of the 16 Mexican companies that were recognized by the Best of The World list.

TO KNOW

Grameen de la Frontera is the only company in northwestern Mexico to be recognized by the System Ba non-profit organization whose mission is to achieve an inclusive, equitable and regenerative economic system for all people and the planet.

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