“Through the collective effort of all parties involved, the national financial inclusion strategy will introduce people to the importance and the modes of access and usage of financial services and thus provide them with the capacity to improve their social and economic situation and achieve social and financial stability” said Mrs. Abeer Odeh, CEO of the Palestinian Capital Market Authority (PCMA) at the signing ceremony of a memorandum of understanding for the collaboration of the Palestinian Monetary Authority (PMA) and the PCMA in support of establishing a financial inclusion strategy for Palestine.

The strategy will aim at building a formal and responsible inclusive financial system that gives all the segments of the Palestinian society including the “unbanked” population the opportunity to accessible and affordable financial services. The project will be supported financially by the Alliance for Financial inclusion (AFI) and by GIZ with technical assistance.

Both financial institutions are aware of the pressing need to raise and improve financial literacy as well as to reinforce consumer protection guidelines and policies to introduce beneficiaries to their rights and obligations. For achieving these main goals, Dr. Al Wazir, governor of the PMA stressed on the high demand for developing a national financial inclusion strategy. Dr. Al Wazir added that PMA and PCMA will partner to lead the building of the strategy in collaboration with all stakeholders and in compliance with the international best practices and main principles for enhancing financial inclusion.

The development of the national financial inclusion strategy will be supervised by the PMA and the PCMA over a scheduled period of two years. The implementation of the strategy will be carried out over two phases. It will target the financial sector and all relevant parties interested in financial inclusion, including financial sector supervisory institutions, governmental institutions, civil society organizations, independent bodies and the private sector. The GIZ Regional Programme for the Promotion of the Microfinance Sector in the MENA Region supports the process by direct technical and legal advice to the PMA.

By Rania Abu Rabie