The Mexican Southeast: A new scenario for gender-lens investment

On March 15, Pro Mujer announced its arrival in the Mexican southeast where it will provide training and financial services to indigenous and rural women. These services will foster equality and provide the support they need to  reach their full potential, improve their living conditions and become agents of change for their communities.

Nowadays, 60 percent of the Mexican southeast inhabitants live in poverty conditions. In some states, this figure goes up to 80 percent,  while the national poverty rate is 40 percent. Regarding gender, the gap in economic participation between men and women is 36.24 points, and only 2.96% of women in the region own their own businesses.

Furthermore, this region obtained the country’s lowest score in the Financial Literacy Index, obtaining 54.9 points in 2018. The numbers are significantly lower when we talk about indigenous and rural populations, and especially, about the women living in these communities.

In this context of inequality, there is concrete evidence on the great potential of incorporating women into economic and productive activities. For that reason, it is essential to offer them the tools to foster their financial autonomy and professional skills.

Therefore, Pro Mujer’s strategic actions will be aimed at providing microentrepreneurs with the tools, skills and knowledge to transform themselves and their businesses. These resources will help foster the financial inclusion of indigenous and rural female entrepreneurs through gender-lens financial services.

Moreover, Pro Mujer will soon launch Pro Mujer Digital, a new digital platform designed to be implemented in the Mexican southeast. Thanks to technology and machine learning tools, the organization will be able to provide increased credit access to women who do not have a credit history.

Pro Mujer in Mexico

Pro Mujer shows concrete results in Mexico: in 2021, the organization granted loans to 14,000 female entrepreneurs in the country- disbursing a total of 18 million USD in loans- and provided training to over 10,000 women. Arriving in the southeast implies new commitments and the expansion of Pro Mujer’s geographical footprint to positively impact more women and their families.