MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: UN’s PFIP, Catalpa Launching 6-month Pilot of Olgeta, Financial Education App for Young Women in Rural Solomon Islands

Catalpa, a development organization based in Timor-Leste, is partnering with the Pacific Financial Inclusion Program (PFIP), a UN effort based in Fiji, to pilot-test an app called Olgeta, which will provide education via mobile phones to young women in rural parts of the Solomon Islands. The service will cover topics “such as leadership, financial literacy and digital marketing,” including “how to budget, bank, and save…”. The six-month pilot will target the 120 people served by two “rural technical centres” on the island of Guadalcanal.

Catalpa’s education technology specialist, Kara Chesal, said, “We are excited to…increase exposure to high-quality, relevant, and locally created content, ultimately increasing students’ future-ready skills.”

Catalpa seeks to use the principles of human-centered design to “integrate technology and behavioural insights with locally-driven solutions to create lasting change.” Founded in 2010, the organization operates in Asia, Australia and the Pacific Islands.

PFIP is an effort of the UN Capital Development Fund and the UN Development Programme. PFIP is funded by the EU and the governments of Australia and New Zealand. It serves 2.1 million people in six countries as of December 2018. In addition to financial education, PFIP is active in areas such as savings, insurance and pensions as well as digital financial services and increasing the financial inclusion of women.

Sources and Additional Resources

PFIP press release
https://www.pfip.org/newsroom/programme-update/2020-2/pfip-partners-with-catalpa-international-to-support-digitization-of-financial-education-in-solomon-islands/

Catalpa homepage
https://catalpa.io/

UN Capital Development Fund homepage
https://www.uncdf.org

UN Development Program homepage
https://www.undp.org

Additional MicroCapital coverage of PFIP
https://www.microcapital.org/?s=PFIP

Additional MicroCapital coverage of the Solomon Islands
https://www.microcapital.org/?s=Solomon

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