European Microfinance Week (EMW), organised by Luxembourg-based European Microfinance Platform (e-MFP), as previously indicated, will take place online once again this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic; EMW 2021 will be held from 17 to 19 November 2021.
The past fifteen months have been challenging and during this time e-MFP has engaged with its members and friends and adapted its activities accordingly to best mitigate the effects of the pandemic on the sector as well as on the vulnerable people it serves.
One of e-MFP's flagship activities is European Microfinance Week, held annually in November. In order to ensure an international conference with the participation of stakeholders from all around the world, e-MFP decided to organise EMW 2021 virtually, building on the success of the 2020 online edition.
And while the decision to keep EMW 2021 online is a result of current circumstances, it also means abundant opportunities – to bring the work, initiatives, ideas, and discussions to a much broader international audience, while at the same time adapting the format of sessions to maximise interactivity and engagement.
A rich conference programme
#EMW2021 remains a member-led conference and based on feedback of what they wanted included, a rich and dynamic conference programme has emerged.
There will be four plenaries focusing on climate change and financial inclusion; access to inclusive health care (the topic of the European Microfinance Award 2021, with the launch of the e-MFP Award publication gathering the best practices and factors for success); the impact of the pandemic and the response of investors; and a closing plenary that is both retrospective on the past 18 months and looks to the changes that will endure.
There is plenty in store at EMW with around 50 sessions covering diverse themes such as smallholder finance, climate and green finance, social performance – with a strong focus on outcomes and impact management, digital financial inclusion, Covid-19 and financial inclusion, health care and women’s financial inclusion. Other front-line topics covering the most relevant issues of the sector include remittances, WASH, child labour, capacity building and youth – among others. As always, we have lined up top experts – practitioners, academics, investors, raters and others – to lead these sessions and the extensive Q&A and audience engagement activities as well.
A variety of session formats will feature, from topic lounges, working sessions and fireside chat to interviews and more traditional panel sessions, to keep attendees engaged. There will be ample opportunities to join live and interactive discussion, and of course our dedicated platform offers terrific possibilities to expand your network and connect in one-to-one chats with other attendees and join peers with similar interests in our topic lounges.
For the first time, over 15 - 16 November, EMW will encompass two Training Days, with trainings hosted by e-MFP members on a range of topics: digital transformation, new business models in the post-Covid world, building customer centric institutions, governance and strategic planning, risk management, organisation resilience, among others.
Also included in the framework of EMW is the ceremony to announce the winner of the €100,000 European Microfinance Award 2021 ‘Inclusive Finance and Health Care’, which will be held on 18 November 2021.
For full details and resistration, see https://registration.european-microfinance-week.eu/website/27793/
