Women’s group helps widows get financial help

By JACKLYN SIRIAS
A WOMEN’S group is assisting widows receive financial inclusion through the small credit scheme offered by Bank South Pacific.
PNG Widows Foundation Incorporation president Maria Unde said their aim was to assist the bank and the government in their policies to reach the unbanked population, especially women.
“Most of the widows who are our members are old and most of them do not really understand the importance of saving. That is where we try to help,” she said.
Unde said they also found it difficult to go to banks and stand in long queues and go through the trouble of filling forms.
Unde founded the association in 2013 and registered it with the Investment Promotion Authority with seven other women after her husband passed away.
She said the foundation was established to give hope to widows who had no one to help them look after their children.
“We are working with BSP who assisted us with financial inclusion training, opening of accounts for our women members and donated around K10,000 which we used to renovate our office and meeting areas,” Unde said.
“The small credit scheme offers loans of K100 or less to allow the widows to sell items. They can repay within a month. When they bring their money to me, I help them to open their interest bearing deposit accounts with the bank.”
They started with seven members and now have more than 1000.