Launch of the "Women in Finance" Project – A Major Step in Promoting Gender Equality in Moldova's Financial Sector and National Financial Education

Women represent about 60% of graduates from higher education institutions in the EU, but they are significantly underrepresented in financial decision-making processes.

Driven by the desire to address the challenges that women face in this sector and to ensure access to financial education for a generation of women to be better prepared to meet the sector's challenges, who in turn will contribute to educating new generations in the spirit of diversity and inclusion, UN Women Moldova, in collaboration with FINEDU, with financial support from Sweden and the support of the Ministry of Finance, launched the Women in Finance project.

In the opening event, the Moldovan Minister of Finance, Petru Rotaru, emphasized the importance and necessity of this project. "The launch of this project is an important first step, but we must continue to examine the subject to eliminate gender discrepancies in sensitive areas. I am referring to the level of pay, their involvement, and gender equality in management. At all management levels, we have significant representation of women, which pleases me very much. We must work together in the budgeting process to stimulate gender equality. It is not easy, as we are talking about complex issues, but with the support of our partners, we will make progress," said Petru Rotaru.

Additionally, Her Excellency, the Swedish Ambassador to Chișinău, Katarina Fried, mentioned: "We are pleased that the Ministry of Finance is initiating such projects and we want to see more women in this field, overcoming gender issues and barriers in the sector, aspiring for development. We invite everyone to support these initiatives, as we believe this project will facilitate opening up more opportunities for women."

In turn, Dominika Stojanoska, representative of UN Women Moldova, stated: "Moldova has made substantial progress in eliminating gender gaps and improving its position in international rankings. This success is largely due to the women who hold leadership positions in Parliament and in the management of various institutions. This progress brings positive changes and show us that we must continue on this path, as we still have many challenges to overcome."

According to Veronica Sirețeanu, project manager at FinEdu, the goal of this project is to directly contribute to the creation of a professional community of women in the financial sector across the country and to intensify financial education activities to create future opportunities, with a focus on women and children.

"The project includes conducting a study on the situation of women working in the financial sector in the Republic of Moldova and presenting the evaluation. Curriculum development is planned to facilitate the training of young people (with a focus on girls) in the region by members of the regional clubs formed. Support materials will also be developed to assist women in the regional clubs in the financial education of young people in the region. Additionally, regional clubs will be launched, and training sessions will be organized in Chișinău, Bălți, Cahul, and Comrat," emphasized Ms. Sirețeanu.

The official launch of the project marks the beginning of an important collaboration and will bring to the forefront a series of actions aimed at supporting and encouraging women to pursue their ambitions and develop their careers in the financial sector.

The event brought together about 100 professionals from various sectors, including traditional finance, fintech, public institutions, academia, and financial research.