MicroCapital: European Microfinance Week (EMW) 2022 will be in-person for the first time in 3 years. What can we expect?
Christoph Pausch (pictured): We’re very excited to be going back to an in-person conference at the beautiful Abbaye de Neumünster in Luxembourg. For the last two years, EMW has been virtual, and we are very proud of how both editions went, but – as I think everyone agrees – an online conference, however professional and comprehensive, can never entirely substitute for meeting in-person. You cannot fully replicate the richness of discussion within a room or the opportunities for exchange, debate and networking that gathering face-to-face allows.
You’ll see some innovations at EMW2022, as we’re taking much of what worked over the last couple of years and incorporating it into the in-person event. Among other things, that means some sessions will be in a hybrid format, so attendees and speakers who cannot come to Luxembourg can take part. Also this year, the conference proper starts on Wednesday at lunchtime, so that our opening will be timezone-suitable for more remote participants.
MC: What range of sessions can attendees choose from?
CP: As always, EMW sessions have been put forward largely by our members and organised across several thematic streams, such as “Financial Inclusion that Works for Women” (the topic of the European Microfinance Award), climate-smart finance, digitalisation and client protection, among others. There will be over 25 breakout sessions within these broader themes, covering topics ranging from inclusive agri?insurance to women’s leadership to funds regulation, mobile money, refugee finance, WASH and food security.
These will be supplemented by four plenary sessions: an opening on standards in responsible digital finance services; one on understanding women’s needs, to kick off the European Microfinance Award topic stream; another that will compare several recent research initiatives to identify current and future sector trends; and a closing plenary that will be audience-interactive and bring together representatives of different stakeholder groups to discuss things to look forward to, issues to worry about and accomplishments for the sector to be proud of.
In addition, there will be several Action Group (AG) meetings, some invitation-only sessions, breakfast events and networking sessions as well as a semi-structured “meet and greet” based on AG research streams and a state-of-the-art conference platform and app for both in-person and remote attendees to use.
MC: Are there a few sessions you’re looking forward to in particular?
CP: There are several that promise to be particularly interesting. The closing plenary will be interactive and pose questions about what the sector should be afraid of, proud of and hopeful about going forward, with a stellar panel of CGAP’s new CEO Sophie Sirtaine, Marc Labie from UMons and Yannick Milev from Chamroeun MFI in Cambodia – moderated by Olga Biosca from Glasgow Caledonian University.
The other session I’m really looking forward to is the plenary that kicks off the Financial Inclusion for Women stream – provisionally titled “What Women Want.” This will pull together some of the most significant opinion leaders on this topic to understand what it is we now know about the particular barriers faced by women, women’s diverse goals and aspirations, and what financial inclusion stakeholders can do to support women in all contexts. The expert panelists will include Women’s World Banking CEO Mary Ellen Iskendarian, Barbara Magnoni from EA Consultants and Columbia University, and Katharine Pulvermacher from the Microinsurance Network, among others.
Christoph Pausch is Executive Secretary of e-MFP.
This feature is part of a sponsored series on European Microfinance Week 2022, which will take place November 16 through November 18. The event is hosted annually by the European Microfinance Platform (e-MFP). MicroCapital has been engaged to promote and report on the conference each year since 2012.
Additional Resources
European Microfinance Week 2022
https://www.e-mfp.eu/european-microfinance-week-2022
European Microfinance Award
https://www.european-microfinance-award.com
MicroCapital coverage of European Microfinance Week since 2012, including the European Microfinance Award
https://www.microcapital.org/category/european-microfinance-week/
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