From Insights to Interventions: Addressing Gender Norms in Women’s Financial Inclusion

Building on CGAP’s Diagnostic Guide, this joint CGAP and FSD Network Technical Guide provides step by step guidance for development actors to translate findings from a gender norms diagnostic into actionable and sustainable interventions. It centers on understanding how specific gender norms, based on their strength and prevalence, influence behaviors across all market actors: women, FSPs, supporting function providers, and rule makers leading to WFI constraints. Using a clear template and a real-world example from Financial Sector Deepening (FSD) Uganda, it demonstrates how to prioritize constraints and design interventions that reduce information asymmetry, build institutional capacity, and align incentives to promote behavior change.

The guide fills a gap in the current landscape by providing the foundation needed for funders and facilitators to effectively design interventions that address the root causes of why women are excluded or underserved, rather than the symptoms.