2016 ─ CYFI Global Summit Report 2016

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SUMMIT REPORT 2016 Child & Youth Finance International Bucharest, Romania 28-29 June 2016


THANK YOU

WITH SUPPORT FROM

Policy Center for Roma and Minorities

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SUMMIT REPORT 2016 Child & Youth Finance International

SUMMIT REPORT 2016 Child & Youth Finance International Bucharest, Romania 28-29 June 2016

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The CYFI 2020 Strategy Launch introduced participants to the next phase of achieving Full Economic Citizenship (FEC) for children and youth, and the roles CYFI will play as Advocate, Network Connector and Expert Hub, and Network Advisor in order to support the network over the next 5 years.

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CONTENTS

ABOUT THE REPORT...................................................................................................................5 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY...............................................................................................................6 WELCOME REMARKS..................................................................................................................8 PART 1: CYFI 2020 STRATEGY LAUNCH..................................................................................11 CYFI 2020 Startegy Launch.......................................................................................................12 PART 2: SESSIONS.....................................................................................................................15 CYFI Product Development Workshop....................................................................................16 Youth Economic Citizenship: Making it a Reality by 2020..................................................17 Financial Inclusion Landscape.................................................................................................18 Financial Education Landscape................................................................................................19 Financial Education – Practices from civil society...............................................................20 Exploring The Realities Of Young Entrepreneurs...................................................................21 Global Money Week...................................................................................................................22 Financial Inclusion – Scaling Up Innovations From The Private........................................23 Catalyzing Partnerships.............................................................................................................24 Regional Dialogue.......................................................................................................................25 Bank the Youth Campaign..........................................................................................................26 PART 3: APPENDIXES.................................................................................................................29 ANNEX 1: Product Development Workshop Agenda...........................................................30 ANNEX 2: Summit Program Schedule.....................................................................................31 ANNEX 3: Summit Evaluation...................................................................................................32

ABOUT THE REPORT This report provides an overview of the sessions and outcomes of CYFI’s International Summit, held in Bucharest, Romania from 28 – 29 June.

impressive achievements of CYFI and the global network and emphasized support for the next phase in empowering youth worldwide.

Part one of the report focuses on the Summit’s opening ceremony and the CYFI 2020 strategy launch, to introduce participants to the focus of the international gathering.

The CYFI 2020 Strategy Launch introduced participants to the next phase of achieving Full Economic Citizenship (FEC) for children and youth, and the roles CYFI will play as Advocate, Network Connector and Expert Hub, and Network Advisor in order to support the network over the next 5 years.

During the Welcoming Remarks on 28 June, high-level representatives from the National Bank of Romania, the Romanian Ministry of Education and the Romanian Financial Supervisory Authority spoke about the

which took place during the Summit. Kick-starting with a product development workshop, sessions were focused on achieving financial inclusion and Economic Citizenship Education for youth. Culminating in a regional dialogue about CYFI’s diagnostic support tool, the Summit’s carefully crafted agenda offered valuable opportunities to share experiences, draw on expertise from a range of sectors and establish best practices within the field.

The second part of this report provides summaries on the objectives, discussions and outcomes resulting from each session, 5


EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ABOUT CYFI

CYFI is a global systems change organization working with partners in 132 countries. We have taken on the challenge of ensuring that everyone works together to reshape financial systems in order to economically and socially empower children and youth worldwide. Having spent the past 5 years raising awareness about the importance of Full Economic Citizenship for children and youth, as CYFI moves in to its 2016-2020 strategy the organization will focus on carrying out 3 main roles: Advocate, Network Connector and Expert Hub, and Network Advisor. 6

ABOUT THE SUMMIT

The 4th Child & Youth Finance International Summit and Strategy Launch was hosted by the National Bank of Romania, Ministry of National Education and Scientific Research and Financial Supervisory Authority of Romania, the Summit was attended by high-level representatives from these institutions. The meeting gathered government officials, senior practitioners, innovators and young people to address the gaps, challenges and opportunities for economic empowerment of young people across the globe. Discussions were accelerated, best

practices shared and duplicated and concrete steps taken in the development of a global plan of action for youth economic citizenship. The 2016 Summit was centered on the launch of CYFI’s strategy for the years 2016-2020, which is the result of a year-long multi-sector, multi-stakeholder process, entailing consultations with partners and network members from 140 countries across the world. In addition, the International Visegrad Fund kindly supported participation of some delegates from the Eastern Partnership


(EaP) countries in the CYFI Summit and Product Development Workshop, within the Flagship project CYFI is implementing on the experience exchange in youth financial education with partners from 9 countries. The Product development workshop on child-and youth friendly banking products, attended by 32 participants from 15 countries and led by Bianca Isaincu and Kimberly de Rose, was kindly sponsored by the European Fund for South-East Europe (EFSE-DF) in the framework of the partnership for the implementation of three Schoolbank projects in Macedonia, Moldova and Romania.

THE KEY ACHIEVEMENTS OF THE SUMMIT INCLUDED: ❶ Launch of CYFI 2016-2020 strategy Sharing innovations and best practices based on the current youth economic

❷ citizenship landscape

❸ Presenting effective project models that can be taken to scale Offering hands on workshops and knowledge sharing sessions to promote

❹ institutional learning and the dissemination of best practice

Launching two new CYFI product lines (Endorsement and the Network Response

❺ Program) to provide additional benefits for the CYFI network ❻

Inspiring active youth participation and outreach, both nationally and internationally, and incorporating youth views in the strategic planning of the international network 7


WELCOME REMARKS The opening session of CYFI’s 4th International Summit ‘Act for Impact’ was attended by high- level representatives from the National Bank of Romania, the Ministry of Education Romania, Financial Supervisory Authority and Jeroo Billimoria, the Managing Director of CYFI. Each of these individuals agreed upon and demonstrated their belief in the importance of financial education and financial inclusion of young people, and the need for youth to develop healthy financial behaviors to help prepare them for the future.

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During his welcoming speech, Prof. Mugur Isarescu, Governor of the National Bank of Romania noted that the Summit was a hub for knowledge transfer between experts concerned with providing children and youth with the knowledge and skills to become capable adults. The Governor applauded CYFI’s achievement in building a network dedicated to enhancing the financial knowledge and inclusion of young people worldwide in just 5 years. Prof. Adrian Curaj, the Minister at the Romanian Ministry of Education stressed

the importance of Economic Citizenship Education for children and youth, and Prof. Cornel Coca Constantinescu, the VicePresident of the Romanian Financial Security Authority, linked financial literacy and inclusion with long-term solutions for economic security and investing in today’s children and youth. Youth representatives from Transylvania College also pointed out their own interest in the topic, highlighting their need to gain a solid financial understanding. As pointed out by one of the youth representatives, and a


theme that lasted throughout the day, the future of a nation is in its youth so governments should invest in their economic futures accordingly. CYFI’s Managing Director, Jeroo Billimoria, welcomed participants to the Summit, noting that network representatives from over 50 countries were present at the meeting, which offered a valuable opportunity to share best practices and address issues facing young people worldwide. Introducing the second phase of CYFI’s strategy to achieve Full Economic

Citizenship (FEC) for children and youth, Jeroo presented the organization’s role as advocate, network connector and expert hub, in order to support the global network over the next 5 years. Closing her speech, Jeroo thanked network partners for their continued efforts, noting that CYFI’s mission and advancements in the field of child and youth finance wouldn’t have been possible without their support.

Keynote speakers • MUGUR ISARESCU, Governor National Bank of Romania • ADRIAN CURAJ, Minister, Ministry of Education of Romania • COMEL COCA CONSTANTINESCU, First-Vice President, Romanian Financial Supervision Authority • JEROO BILLIMORIA, Managing Director, CYFI

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CYFI 2020 STRATEGY LAUNCH PART 1

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CYFI 2020 STRATEGY LAUNCH Over the past five years, CYFI has created momentum on the topic of Full Economic Citizenship (FEC) for children and youth. Having had success in putting financial issues affecting young people on the agendas of governments, multilateral agencies and other stakeholders, CYFI’s International Summit offered the opportunity to unveil the organization’s next phase in working for Full Economic Citizenship for children and youth everywhere. The strategy was presented by members of CYFI’s Management Board and chaired by Jaap Doek, Executive Board member and respected academic in the field of child rights. Kicking off with a recap of the successes of the Child and Youth Finance movement since CYFI’s inception in 2011, the session acknowledged that a solid foundation has been laid, on which progress over the next five years can advance in order to reshape financial systems to support and include young people.

EVOLUTION OF CYFI’S 2020 STRATEGY

Over the course of a year CYFI held an extensive stakeholder consultation process and gathered feedback from over 400

Role

A

Advocate

B

Network Connector & Expert Hub

C

Network Advisor

respondents. In collaboration with strategic partners Deloitte and McKinsey & Co., CYFI carried out a combination of network surveys, in-depth interviews and regional webinars throughout the process, and the main takeaways supported CYFI in creating our 2016-2020 strategy, which was presented at the Summit.

CORE DRIVERS:

Moving forward, CYFI’s strategy for 2016-2020 will focus on the following core thrusts: • Approach: CYFI will continue the Collaborative Systems Change approach. This means that CYFI aims to achieve large-scale, structural change by driving innovation, sharing knowledge, rallying all relevant stakeholders around this issue ad propelling joint actions. • Focus: CYFI will focus increasingly on Financial Inclusion while continuously emphasizing the importance of an integrated approach to Financial Inclusion and Economic Citizenship Education.

MISSION AND MEASURING SUCCESS

Through CYFI’s experience in its first five years, the recent network consultation, and understanding of the need for a contexttailored approach to supporting countries in achieving Full Economic Citizenship (FEC) for children and youth, high level targets were created for each of the roles that CYFI will play within the 2020 strategy (See Figure 2). For each role/ambition level, more detailed and concrete targets will be formulated per underlying activity.

• Stakeholders: CYFI will primarily work with governments and government agencies while ensuring that other stakeholders are actively involved in the process.

Target countries

High level targets

All 150 countries in the network

• GMW in 150 countries in 2020 • GMW led by 100 governments in their respective country by 2020 • National Economic Citizenship Implementation Tool covering 100 countries by 2020

Selected MIO FEC and HIO FEC countries

• Systems change in 30-40 countries, including policies affected, pilots scaled up, and pilots (that are not SchoolBanks) implemented

Selected HIO FEC countries

15-20 countries will have • 15-20 High Improvement Opportunity FEC countries will have twice the growth in FI rate compared to benchmark/peers • 15 SchoolBanks or equivalent FI projects

Figure 1. The benchmark consists of the other countries that score low in the NECIT

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• Role: CYFI will take a segmented approach in working with countries. This means that CYFI will play an adaptable role and offer different services to countries, depending on the countries’ level of advancement towards FEC. These roles are Advocate, Network Connector & Expert Hub, and Network Advisor (see Figure 1 for further detail).

Dedicated share of CYFI resources

~ 40%

~ 35%

~ 25%


Countries and Rationale All 150 countries in the network • Most countries can benefit from more transparency on their performance • We need to track what happens in high ranking countries, to collect best practices • To highlight innovations from all countries

CYFI Role: A For 150 countries

CYFI Role: A + B For 30-40 countries

30-40 mid improvement opportunity FEC countries • These countries work form a strong base and do not need hands-on support, but would benefit from documentation of best practices and network opportunities

CYFI Role: A + B + C For 15-20 countries

15-20 high improvement opportunity FEC countries • These countries require more in-depth support to kick start their work on FEC

A: Advocate B: Network Connector & Expert Hub C: Network Advisor

Figure 2. Different roles CYFI for different segments of countries

CREATING CHANGE

From the outset, we realized that our large-scale challenge requires large-scale thinking, and that the current situation – as well as the barriers on the way to change – is the result of the systems in which we live. To meet the considerable challenges facing us, upon its establishment CYFI pioneered a new way of thinking and designed our ‘Collaborative Systems Change’ management approach. Uniquely suitable for tackling large-scale problems, this innovative model recognizes that there is no one big answer to complex problems, but rather a plethora of smaller efforts working in harmony that propel the entire machine forward.

change – driving innovation, rallying all stakeholders to the cause through collaboration, and propelling joint actions.

The combination of these elements is key to our exponential growth with very modest resources in such a short period of time. As part of CYFI’s 2016-2020 strategy, we will continue to go further and offer our network partners concrete tools and road maps to implement the changes that will gradually alter the ecosystem of youth economic empowerment in every country in which we work.

Chair • JAAP DOEK, Ex-Chair Committee on the Rights of the Child & Board Member for CYFI Speakers • WESSEL VAN KAMPEN, Executive Director, CYFI • BRAM VAN EIJK, Chief Operations Officer, CYFI • BIANCA ISAINCU, Head - Network Advisory Services, CYFI • JARED PENNER, Director of Thought Leadership and Consultancy, CYFI • LUBNA SHABAN, Director Youth Entrepreneurship, CYFI

At the center of this Collaborative Systems Change model, CYFI serves as an agent of

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SESSIONS PART 2

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CYFI Product Development Workshop Prior to the official start of the CYFI 2016 Global Summit, CYFI hosted a Product Development Work-shop on Child and Youth Friendly products. This workshop was attended by a select number of central and commercial bank representatives, as well as civil society actors from around the globe who are either already active or interested in developing child and youth friendly banking products. The objec-tives of the workshop were to: • Understand why Child & Youth Friendly products are important. • Explore what Children & Youth need and want from their financial service providers and under-stand what a Child & Youth Friendly product is. • Explore the business case for Child & Youth Friendly products, from a financial and non-financial perspective. • Learn how to develop and market Child & Youth friendly products, from CYFI’s

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experience, and from other institutions pioneering in Child & Youth Friendly products • Explain how CYFI could help to develop, implement, and certify Child & Youth Friendly products • Explore how Child and Youth friendly products could be incorporated into financial inclusion programs such as SchoolBank. • Start expanding and improving the participants’ own youth product portfolio and learn from each other’s experiences through break-out sessions and collaborative development of Child & Youth Friendly concepts. Participants of the workshop all agreed that the strongest benefits come as a result to children who are both financially educated and who have access to financial products and services, all happening within the framework of proper consumer protection

for children and youth. Furthermore, all participants agreed that child and youth friendly products, in addition to being used in unison with financial educa-tion, must be catered to specific age ranges from ages 0 – 18. While the child and youth friendly products offer several benefits both to the individual youth them-selves as well as directly to the financial service providers, there are still several barriers that can stand in the way of actually developing such products. However, the workshop also explored the different avenues that make up the business case for child and youth friendly banking products and services and focused on how to overcome such barriers in order to financially include children and youth.


Youth Economic Citizenship: Making it a Reality by 2020 The session focused on current challenges and solutions to ensuring Full Economic Citizenship for children & youth. During the panel there was a discussion about the need for financial education for young people, barriers facing youth in accessing financial services and products, and the role innovation can play in ensuring young people can be financially included in a digital age. Kicking off the session, Andrea Griffoni, the Policy Analyst for the OECD, spoke about the significance of financial literacy as a life skill in the 21st century. He observed that although many young people are digitally literate often there is a lack of the financial knowledge needed to make wise decisions later in life. Stressing the importance of providing children with Economic Citizenship Education (ECE) from an early age, Griffoni presented the OECD’s work in acting as a network of financial education experts, gathering evidence, identifying challenges and best practices, and supporting governments and stakeholders in providing financial education to children and youth. Presenting the perspective of a private sector company also working in the field of financial inclusion, MasterCard’s Rose Beaumont discussed the ways in which corporate companies can support innovation to create an inclusive world, not only for philanthropic purposes but also in the interests of businesses. Noting that inclusion does not just concern emerging or developing markets, Rose pointed out that if the 2.5 billion unbanked individuals in the world were financially included companies can ensure they capture the next generation of customers.

Aysen Kulakoglu, the Co-chair and Head of Department for G20 - Global Partnership for Financial Inclusion (GPFI) discussed the need for financial inclusion of children and youth, which was a key focus during the Turkish Presidency of the G20. The GPFI, of which CYFI is an affiliated member, is a key force in putting youth at the forefront of financial inclusion and placing the issue on the agenda of G20 countries. Kulakoglu noted that, moving forward, the Chinese Presidency on the G20 would continue to focus on the key issue of financial inclusion for young people, with an emphasis on financial technology and the development of e-banking, data indicators, and researching unreached and vulnerable populations, including rural, poor, youth and the elderly.

Chair • BIANCA ISAINCU, Head - Network Advisory Services, CYFI Speakers • ANDREA GRIFONI, Policy Analyst, OECD, France • ROSE BEAUMONT, Senior Vice President, Group Head, Communications, MasterCard Europe • AYSEN KULAKOGLU, Head of Department, Undersecretariat of the Treasury of Turkey, GPFI Co-chair • VALENTIN LAZEA, Lead Economist, National Bank of Romania

Representing the Summit hosts, Valentin Lazea, the Chief Economist for National Bank of Romania discussed the Bank’s focus on implementing financial education programs following the global economic crisis. Noting that the financial crisis underlined how ill-prepared people were for financial issues worldwide, Lazea pointed out that it is a cross-sector responsibility to provide financial education to young people.

CONCLUSIONS

• Throughout the session, emphasis was placed on financial education and financial literacy as essential life skills for poverty reduction. • The power of innovation in financial technology was proposed as a potential driver of financial inclusion. • Panelists highlighted changing financial systems within countries and utilizing international cooperation in order to make full economic citizenship for youth a reality by 2020.

Beaumont made reference to the fastgrowing world of financial technology and the opportunities it offers in building the tools needed to successfully include children and youth in banking services, the chance to gain expertise from the private sector, and the impetus to create regulations around the financial needs of youth. CYFI and MasterCard collaborated on a child and youth-friendly product guide for the private sector as part of a working group dedicated to making money simple, safe and secure for young people everywhere.

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Financial Inclusion Landscape This session focused on the needs, wants and behaviors of young people in relation to the financial inclusion landscape. Gathering representatives from the UNCDF, the Alliance for Financial Inclusion (AFI) and the Central Bank of Paraguay, the workshop provided the opportunity to share case studies in addressing financial inclusion for children and youth from a range of sectors and within several different country contexts. The workshop kicked off with a presentation of CYFI’s leading documentation of the landscape of financial inclusion of youth (see Figure 3), which highlighted several case studies from across the globe - looking at what challenges and opportunities exist for youth to become financially included both from the perspective of the young people themselves as well as from the perspective of the financial service providers. An additional CYFI study in Central Europe underlined that there is indeed a clear gap between financial inclusion rates of adults versus children. The landscaping will provide a valuable reference point for stakeholders seeking to address financial inclusion for children and youth in their country. During the panel discussion, Ata Cisse, the Program Manager of YouthStart with UNCDF pointed to evidence that there is a demand from youth in the African countries in which the project is based to be financially included. She explained that the objective of YouthStart is to create specific banking products for youth, which are relevant, affordable and accessible. UNCDF works to support financial service providers (FSPs) in developing these products and services. Cisse also noted that the YouthStart project seeks to help FSPs understand that there is a need to focus on financially including youth as they are the next generation of clients. The session also stressed the power and importance of policy impact in relation to financial education and financial inclusion, as explained by Merle Wangerin from the Alliance for Financial Inclusion (AFI), who presented on the organization’s work in creating a platform for members to share their experiences and best practices in providing financial inclusion to children and youth. In addition to an event sharing policy innovations and regulations, to date 12 AFI 18

members have made youth-specific declarations around incorporating financial education in to schools and the organization will continue to support them in realizing these commitments. Wangerin also commented that regulators have a significant role to play in addressing the financial needs of children and youth, and that this can be achieved through collaborative efforts, such as forming working groups to create inclusive policies and making child and youth-friendly banking products accessible from an early age. The Central Bank of Paraguay’s Paola Giménez further emphasized the importance of the sometimes difficult collaborative efforts to develop financial inclusion strategies. Discussing the Bank’s experiences in implementing a national strategy for financial inclusion alongside government departments, Giménez made reference to lobbying, financial education tools, program content and guidelines as useful methods for achieving cross-sector partnership and successfully implementing national strategies targeted at vulnerable groups such as children and youth.

Methodology CYFI collected a large number of case examples from its own sources, CYFI network partners, and publicly available publications. Key findings Financial inclusion is settled firmly on the international development agenda, but the number of products and policies aimed specifically at children and youth remains low. Furthermore, financial inclusion for children and youth is often still not considered in the broader context of economic citizenship, linking financial, social, and livelihoods education to financial access. Recommendations Policymakers and practitioners should continue working together on removing the barriers and developing child and youth friendly financial products. Financial, social, and livelihoods education should be an integral part of the approach to build children’s financial capability. Figure 3

Chair • LINDA KAPUT, Thought Leadership Manager, CYFI Speakers • KARINA AVAKYAN, Network Advisory Manager – Europe & Central Asia, CYFI • ATA CISSE , Technical Specialist, YouthStart Programme, UNCDF • PAOLA GIMÉNEZ, Head of Department, Central Bank of Paraguay • MERLE WANGERIN, Head of Member Relations Alliance for Financial Inclusion, Malaysia


Financial Education Landscape

Figure 4: CYFI Economic Citizenship Education Landscape

The Financial Education landscape session gave a wide range of perspectives and best practices from around the world. The workshop stressed various key points in relation to the financial and economic citizenship of young people and incorporated the findings from CYFI’s Financial Education Landscape to illustrate this (see Figure 4). Methodology The CYFI ECE Economic Citizenship Education compiled leading practices and profiled key players advancing ECE related content throughout the world. It demonstrates how ECE is supported by a number of frameworks, such as the CYFI ECE Learning Framework, the UNICEF Life Skills Education Framework, UNESCO’s Global Citizenship Topic and Learning Objectives and the OECD Pisa Financial Literacy Framework Recommendations ECE programs should be linked with formal finance to allow young people to develop greater financial capability and economic citizenship. Programs should be scaled by integrating content into national curricula and ensuring that programs are reaching vulnerable youth populations. Greater attention should be paid to teacher training and quality control of educational resources.

During the panel session, Oludamola Odunlami Atanda, the Principal Manager of Consumer and Financial Protection for the Central Bank of Nigeria discussed the challenges facing financial institutions in providing ECE. Atanda noted the Bank developed a strategy for financial inclusion and economic literacy following the global economic crisis. The Central Bank of Nigeria is implementing the SchoolChild and Adopt a School Programs to teach children about financial matters in order to prepare them for the future, and are working with the Ministry of Education to ensure ECE is incorporated into school curricula. Further emphasizing the need for stakeholder provision of financial education services, Evelyn Omoike, Child and Young People Implementation Manager at the Money Advice Service, spoke about the positive effect intervention at an early age can have on ensuring young people are financial literate.

Underlining a multi-sector stakeholder approach, Dr. Roi Nath Pande, the Secretary for Social Justice and Human Rights for the Parliament of the Nepal Government, discussed the challenges Nepal faced in implementing financial education activities through the Ministry of Education alone. Pande highlighted the successes of cross-Ministry pilot projects in assessing financial literacy among the country’s youth and how to address existing gaps as part of a collaborative approach. Talking on behalf of EFSE DG, Viktoria Popova highlighted the organizations’ recognition of the need for financial literacy of youth in order to ensure financial inclusion for future generations. Although financial literacy of a country’s entire population is important, Popova acknowledged CYFI’s support in specifically targeting young people and establishing a network approach to addressing the financial needs of youth in order to provide technical assistance and share best practices. Similarly, Alexandra Bontas, Chief Officer of the Romanian Financial Supervisory Authority, discussed the use of tailored financial education for different age groups amongst Romania’s youth, in order to build financial and social capabilities, which will support them later in life. Prof. Laura Naghi, the General Manager at the Financial Studies Institute of Romania echoed this, stating that it is essential for financial education from an early age to ensure that young people understand economic concepts which they will encounter throughout their lives. Speaking on behalf of the Romanian Banking Institute, Gabriela Hartescu, highlighted the role education plays in creating capable citizens. She pointed out that the RBI are working to offer children and youth financial knowledge and skills they will use in the future through workshops and seminars for youth and training sessions for the teachers providing ECE components across the country. Hartescu noted that financial education supports the development of youth and creating essential financial habits amongst the future leaders of tomorrow, and congratulated CYFI in working to provide the education young people need to lead capable lives.

Chair • JARED PENNER, Director of Thought Leadership and Consultancy, CYFI Speakers • OLUDAMOLA ODUNLAM ATANDA, Principal Manager: Consumer and Financial Protection, Central Bank of Nigeria • EVELYN OMOIKE, Children and Young People Implementation Manager Financial Capability, Money Advice Service United Kingdom • ROJ NATH PANDE, Secretary for Social Justice and Human Rights, Legislature Parliament of the Nepal Government • VIKTORIA POPOVA, Associate Project Manager Finance in Motion, EFSE Development Facility, Germany • ALEXANDRA BONTAS, Chief Officer of the Romanian Financial Supervisory Authority • LAURA NAGHI, General Manager, Financial Studies Institute, Romania • GABRIELA HARTESCU, General Manager of the RBI • EUGEN STOICA, Director, Ministry of National Education and Scientific Research of Romania

Presenting specifically on Romania’s financial education landscape, Eugen Stoica, Inspector General of Financial Education at Ministry of Education, acknowledged that currently many schools have adopted a holistic approach to providing social education and ECE to students. However, he pointed out that there is need for a national strategy as part of building partnerships to further develop financial education components for children and youth across Romania.

CONCLUSIONS:

• All panelists stressed the importance of a multi-stakeholder approach in furthering the financial education of children and youth to develop and train the financial habits of tomorrow’s leaders. • There is a need to educate children in primary school to help build their knowledge and habits from a young age • Agreement that financial education and other ECE elements should be formally integrated into the school curriculum, and that youth need a practical approach to learn about finance so as not to put themselves or their community at a financial risk. 19


Financial Education – Practices from civil society Focusing on the important issue of Economic Citizenship Education (ECE) for children and youth, panelists represented a range of civil society organizations working to provide financial education for young people globally. Ewa Bankowska discussed Microfinance Center Poland’s (MFC) work in providing support to entrepreneurs from low income populations across Europe, Africa and Asia. She highlighted the key role financial education has in facilitating this support, as micro-businesses need financial know-how in order to achieve growth. Working closely with vulnerable youth, Bankowska noted that MFC has had the opportunity to test their financial education curriculum and evaluate which aspects address their needs, in addition to holding workshops which enable young people to put their financial knowledge into practice and help them to develop long-term savings. Similarly, Elisabeth Bieler of My Finance Coach (Germany) talked about providing practical programs to children and youth across 18 countries. Aiming to improve financial literacy amongst young people, My Finance Coach takes a 3-tiered approach, providing teacher training, extra-curricular activities and a corporate volunteer program. Bieler noted the challenges in providing a comprehensive program in each location, which requires access to education systems and the integration of financial education components in school curricula. Drawing on the benefits of working with partners who work with children and youth from a variety of backgrounds, Nada Ellatar from Sesame Workshop spoke about the organization’s goal of financially empowering children and youth. Sesame Workshop aims to support youth in having the capacity to set goals and to be more in confident in making sound choices in order to achieve those goals. Speaking on behalf of Aflatoun’s work as a social franchise which provides children and youth with social and financial education, Simon Bailey discussed the role NGOs and civil society can play in producing the next generational of economic citizens. As a result of delivering programs to young people directly, Bailey suggested that NGOs 20

can offer both experience and needsspecific materials – something which other sectors may lack – and therefore highlighted the importance of cross-sector sharing of skills, resources, and knowledge. Oana Bacil presented the work of the Romanian Policy Center for Roma and Minorities. In the poorer areas of Romania, kids take control of their own future with support from the Alternative Education Club. In this club, financial education is about more than just money; it is about empowerment. Empowering these children by letting them learn about themselves, teaching life skills and planning and budgeting, creates a close-knit community where children feel safe. During the Q&A, one key question focused on how to evaluate financial education activities and how to measure sustainability. Panelists stressed the importance of using both quantitative and qualitative methods before and after a project or program. Furthermore, the panelists spoke about monitoring the program impact up to five years after the program has ended. Another question brought attention on how to prepare for starting a program in a new country. All panelists indicated that they work with local partners in order to share resources and knowledge. My Finance Coach and Aflatoun explained that they develop basic materials, which are then adapted for the local context. The Policy Center for Roma and Minorities expands capacity by mentoring others instead of running the program themselves. Another question was in reference to the graduating system and what follows once a child or youth has completed the education program. Simon Bailey stated that the Aflatoun curriculum focuses on practically applicable skills that do not have too much of delay before they can be put into use. For the programs working with excluded youth in Poland or children from low-income households in Romania, there is not necessarily a fixed level of graduation, but more a general sense that the child is ready to move on.

Chair • JAAP DOEK, Ex-Chair Committee on the Rights of the Child, The Netherlands Speakers • OANA BACIL, Executive Director, Policy Center for Roma and Minorities, Romania • SIMON BAILEY, Head of Programmes and Research, Aflatoun, The Netherlands • EWA BANKOWSKA, Responsible Finance Expert, Microfinance Center Poland • ELISABETH BIELER, Senior Consultant, My Finance Coach Germany • NADA ELATTAR, Director of Education Programs, Sesame Workshop, US

CONCLUSIONS:

• There was overall agreement that NGOs have a wealth of experience and knowledge to be shared • Panelists discussed the necessity but also challenges civil society organizations face in tailoring programs to each country context • Support for a cross-sector approach to effectively implement financial education programs


Exploring The Realities Of Young Entrepreneurs This session focused on the ways in which a range of stakeholders and sectors can support the capabilities and ambitions of young entrepreneurs worldwide. Introducing the session, Lubna Shaban, the Director of Entrepreneurship for CYFI presented the future of Ye! Community, the online platform for young entrepreneurs. Noting Ye!’s impressive growth since its inception less than two years ago, Lubna discussed the clear need for stakeholders to support young entrepreneurs worldwide. Drawing on the experiences of Teach a Man to Fish in working with young entrepreneurs, Sally Walker pointed to networks of support as a means for helping young people to succeed. Noting that the opportunities are huge, she discussed the method of ‘learning through doing’ as central to developing practical experiences amongst young entrepreneurs. Walker pointed out that although not all young people will go on to be entrepreneurs, entrepreneurship education is valuable for children and youth by helping them to build key employment skills.

Representing the experiences of young entrepreneurs, 19-year old Mara Steiu talked about the challenges and realities she faced in founding The iXperiment Romania. Making reference to addressing the needs of young entrepreneurs, Steiu pointed out that although many stakeholders place emphasis on including youth, she rarely sees young people represented at conferences and meetings. Believing in the ability of young people to take control of their futures, Steiu advocated for all sectors to support the expertise, knowledge and experiences of young entrepreneurs everywhere.

Chair • LUBNA SHABAN, Director Youth Entrepreneurship, CYFI Speakers • SALLY ANN WALKER, Senior Programme Manager, Teach a Man to Fish, United Kingdom • MARA STEIU, Founder, The iXperiment, Romania

CONCLUSIONS:

• Panelists agreed that often young entrepreneurs have lots of expertise, skills and knowledge, but need crosssector support in growing their enterprises. • Entrepreneurship education is beneficial for all young people, as it can support the development of key employment skills. • Agreement that decision-makers should listen to the voices of young entrepreneurs in order to support the next generation of business owners.

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Global Money Week Session chair, Bram Van Eijk, kicked off the panel by launching the dates and theme for Global Money Week 2017. Taking place from 27 March – 2 April 2017, CYFI has prepared resources to support partners in planning their activities for Global Money Week (GMW) 2017, and are facilitating many exciting events globally. Illustrating the growth of GMW from 2012 to 2016, van Eijk pointed to CYFI’s network as the reason for the unprecedented successes of the Week, which now takes place across 132 countries and reached over 7 million children in 2016.

program in Russia and its ability to positively impact children and youth. The Week managed to attract more than 50 partners that together involved more than 800 000 children and teenagers in various activities in almost all regions of the country during the week. In 2016 the Week reached almost the whole population of the country through dedicated media outreach, Ms. Bliskavka noted that GMW provides a great opportunity to advocate for financial education for young people and align stakeholders to an important cause.

Presenting an inspiring example of government-led GMW activities, Khaled Bassiouny, Director of Business Development at the Egyptian Banking Institute noted that initially Egypt adopted Global Money Week as a fun way to engage and include children and youth people across the country. Using Aflatoun materials and resources provided by CYFI, the EBI have worked to include more children in Global Money Week each year and Egypt won the GMW Award for two years in a row. Highlighting the advocacy role of Global Money Week, Bassiouny acknowledged that the EBI are now implementing the first product development workshops in Egypt, drafting a national strategy, and planning SchoolBank and Ye! projects as a result of their involvement in GMW.

On behalf of Rasta Bank Nepal, Dr. Roj Nath Pande discussed the important role Global Money Week has played in catalyzing action around the economic empowerment of young people across Nepal. Initially starting with 76 participants in Kathmandu, interactive sessions, exhibitions and multi-stakeholder involvement has helped the Week grow and reach children in more rural areas.

Providing perspective from the Russian Federation, Evgenia Bliskavka, the Director at the Institute of Financial Planning, talked about Global Money Week as an integral part of the National Financial Education

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CONCLUSIONS:

• Global Money Week has continued to grow over the past 5 years, reaching over 7 million children across 132 countries in 2016 • Innovative events and activities have been held worldwide, in order to raise awareness about financial literacy of youth • CYFI will continue to support partners, governments and organizations worldwide in planning their GMW events

Chair • BRAM VAN EIJK, Chief Operations Officer, CYFI Speakers • KHALED BASSIOUNY, Director of Business Development, Egyptian Banking Institute • EVGENIA BLISKAVKA, Director, Institute of Financial Planning, Russian Federation • ROJ NATH PANDE, Secretary for Social Justice and Human Rights, Legislature Parliament of the Nepal Government


Financial Inclusion – Scaling Up Innovations From The Private The session provided a platform for representatives from a range of industries to discuss innovative solutions emerging from the private sector, and how other industries can incorporate these approaches in order to achieve the financial inclusion of young people. Representing the Romanian Banking Association (ARB), Gabriela Folcut discussed the development of financial products and banking accounts, which presents positive news for the financial inclusion of youth. Folcut stated that research on financial education has shown that the holding retention and knowledge of financial products have all gone up in the past five years. Discussing the role of financial technology in achieving the financial inclusion of young people, Ciprian Panturu from PHB noted the increasingly important role mobile operators and technology are becoming increasingly important players in the financial sector. He suggested that developments in mobile banking and innovations around the ‘digital wallet’ offer very valuable opportunities for financially including young people. Similarly, Ana-Maria Pochi, Product Manager for Mastercard Romania, advocated for a focus on the development of e-commerce and financial technology, as young people use them to address their banking, savings and payment needs. Pochi pointed out that this generation of youth are the future workforce and service providers should understand their emotional, functional and technological needs. Speaking from the perspective of a service provider, Clint Wilson, CEO of ParentPay talked about their experience in developing a product, which addresses the financial needs of children and youth. Nimbl is an online app, which supports children and youth in becoming economically confident and to achieve their financial aspirations for the future. Wilson discussed the value of including parents in the process to ensure they can also encourage their children to save and teach them about money.

banking products safer for minors. These 10 practices (see Figure 5) build on “Banking a New Generation”, an important work done by MasterCard and Child & Youth Finance International on how the financial sector can improve banking products offered to minors. The current guidelines are formulated by MasterCard, Child & Youth Finance, UNICEF, ParentPay/nimbl,Osper and Mirador Digital.

Guidelines on how to make banking products for minors safer 1. Allow Parents to Choose Payment Types 2. Restrict Products and Services Inappropriate for Minors 3. Allow Parents to Set Card Limits 4. Provide Parental Access to Spending Behavior 5. Provide Saving and Payment Facilities 6. Ensure Responsible Spending 7. Design Marketing Initiatives for Both Parent and Child 8. Protect Client Privacy 9. Educate Minors on Safe Spending 10. Accompany Products with Financial Education Tools

Chair • GABRIELA FOLCUT, President of the Communication Commission, Romanian Banking Association Speakers • MIHAI CIPRIAN PANTURU, Partner Digital Financial Services, PHB Development, France • DORAN OIRBONS, Network Advisory Manager – MENA & LAC, CYFI • ANA-MARIA POCHI, Account Manager, Mastercard Romania • CLINT WILSON, Chief Executive, ParentPay & nimbl, United Kingdom

Figure 5

CONCLUSIONS:

• As part of a working group, CYFI has developed a set of guidelines for how the financial sector can improve banking products for children and youth • Panelists agreed on the importance of financial technology in supporting financial inclusion for young people

Representing CYFI’s work in developing innovative solutions for financial solutions with the private sector, Doran Oirbons presented Guidelines on how to make 23


Catalyzing Partnerships The purpose of this session was to show participants how they can enhance their involvement in the CYFI Network through the launch of two exciting new initiatives: the CYFI Endorsement Process and the CYFI Network Response Program (CNRP). Jared Penner, CYFI Director of Thought Leadership and Consultancy, explained how CNRP offers a wide range of consultants from different locations with diverse skill sets and expertise, able to respond ef-fectively to various requests for technical assistance from the CYFI network. CNRP will focus especially on product development, curriculum development, monitoring and evaluation and strategic planning related to youth financial and educational services from government authorities, financial service pro-viders and civil society organizations. Organizations can both offer and request technical assistance from the CYFI Secretariat, and CYFI will draw on suitable CNRP Associates as necessary to complete the assignment. Penner also introduced the CYFI Endorsement Process for financial products and curriculum materials. The curriculum endorsement is based upon the CYFI Economic Citizenship Education (ECE) Learning Framework and it sets benchmarks for ECE content and active learning methodology. The product en-dorsement measures the extent to which financial products and services comply with the CYFI Child and Youth Friendly banking principles. The financial or curriculum products of organizations that receive CYFI endorsement will be able to display the endorsement logo alongside the product and will receive recognition through the CYFI website. The endorsement fee structure is tiered based on sector, coun-try of operation and size of annual budget, similar to CYFI’s former partnership fee structure. The session offered Summit participants the opportunity to hear testimonies from representatives of Aflatoun and the Canadian Foundation for Economic Education (CFFE), both of which are CNRP associ-ates and have their curriculum products being put forward in the first round for CYFI endorsement. Simon Bailey, the Head of Programs and Research at Aflatoun, discussed challenges 24

in curriculum de-velopment and how the CYFI endorsement would assist in bringing the Aflatoun Social and Financial Education materials to new markets, making them more attractive to interested parties. Bailey noted that curriculum endorsement is becoming increasingly important as stakeholders want to have curricula linked with other tools, validating their quality. Gary Rabbior, Presider of CFEE, presented the four focused targets areas for the organization - career exploration and development, financial capability, economic capability, entrepreneurship – and point-ed out that these are tools to help all children build a successful future. A strong advocate of the CNRP associate network and endorsement process, Rabbior highlighted the benefits of connecting with oth-er experts in the field, opening new business opportunities and expanding the reach of the Money and Youth curriculum through the CYFI network.

CONCLUSIONS:

• Independent consultants and organizations can sign up to be CNRP Associates, offering and re-questing technical assistance to and from the CYFI network. • Organizations can submit their Child and Youth Friendly financial products and curricula to be assessed by the CYFI Secretariat for eventual endorsement • Organizations have already seen the benefits of these programs and have begun signing up for CNRP and initiating the endorsement process.

Chair • JARED PENNER, Director of Thought Leadership and Consultancy, CYFI Speakers • GARY RABIOR, President, Canadian Foundation for Economic Education • SIMON BAILEY, Head of Programmes and Research, Aflatoun, The Netherlands


Regional Dialogue

The final session of the Summit provided participants the opportunity to link with other stakeholders in their region to discuss challenges and opportunities in working to achieve the Full Economic Citizenship of children and youth in their respective countries. Having shared experiences, case studies and best practices over the course of both days, the session also offered the opportunity for representatives from each region to contribute to a diagnostic tool, which CYFI is currently developing.

After the tool was presented, participants representing over 50 countries were asked to divide themselves in to their respective world regions and discuss how the diagnostic tool could be used in their country to support FEC for children and youth. Following the discussion session, participants provided their feedback, suggestions and requests to the CYFI Team, who will work on creating a comprehensive tool. The diagnostic tool will provide a valuable resource for CYFI and the network in achieving Full Economic Citizenship for

children and youth as part of the Child and Youth Finance Movement’s 2020 strategy, and will also serve as a basis for the CYFI Global Inclusion Awards. The Regional Dialogue session provided a valuable opportunity for stakeholders from all over the world to contribute to a tool, which will be key to the Movement’s goal of economically empowering children and youth everywhere.

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Bank the Youth Campaign To commemorate its 50th anniversary, UNCDF is partnering with CYFI to develop the advocacy campaign #BankTheYouth. #BankTheYouth will target government authorities, financial service providers, youth serving organizations, and the youth themselves, advocating for a set of clear recommendations to make financial systems more conducive to financial and complementary non-financial services. This involves: • overcoming legal and regulatory barriers to youth financial access; • designing affordable, appropriate and accessible financial products for children and youth; • building the financial capability and economic citizenship of young people. #BankTheYouth will gather commitments from governments to enact policy change more conducive to youth financial inclusion. It will encourage financial service providers to make commitments to serve children and youth and make their services increasingly available through a variety of delivery channels. It will also put forward a series of guiding principles for governments and financial institution and collect signatures from organizations and individuals to further support the financial inclusion of youth. UNCDF and CYFI call on a number of international, national, corporate and academic impact champions who will support the objectives and the activities of the campaign, providing their public endorsement for the campaign objectives and contributing to their achievement through collaborative action. Current plans are to formally launch the campaign in the 2nd half of 2016 and pursue a number of advocacy opportunities including the UNCTAD Youth Forum and the CYFI Awards Ceremony. UNCDF and CYFI are excited about the tremendous potential of #BankTheYouth and will soon launch a website which we invite all of you to follow to support the campaign. Together we can change financial systems, develop full economic citizenship and advance appropriate and accessible financial services for young people around the world. 26


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APPENDIXES PART 3

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ANNEX 1 - Product Development Workshop Agenda

PROGRAM SCHEDULE Act for Impact | CYFI International Summit | 28-29 June 2016 | Bucharest, Romania Monday 27 June

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08:30 – 09:00

Arrival

09:00 – 09:15

Introduction and objectives of the day

09:30 – 10:00

Session 1: Why are child and Youth Friendly products important

10:00 – 10:30

Break-out 1: What motivates your institution to offer Child-and-youth friendly products?

10:30 – 10:45

Tea & Coffee Break

10:45 – 11:45

Session 2: Business case for child and youth friendly products

11:45 – 12:30 12:30 – 13:00

Session 3: What do youth want

13:00 – 14:00

Lunch

14:00 – 15:00

Session 5: Product development

15:00 – 15:30

Break-out 2: Business models, processes and develop a new product

15:30 – 15:45

Coffee Break

15:45 – 16:30

Session 6: How to develop and Child and youth banking product (with Break-out discussions)

16:30 – 17:00

Session 7: How to market a child and Youth Baking product (with Break-out discussions)

17:00 – 17:15

Wrap up

19:30

Dinner at Carul cu Bere – hosted by EFSE DF

Session 4: Schoolbank


ANNEX 2 - Summit Program Schedule

PROGRAM SCHEDULE Act for Impact | CYFI International Summit | 28-29 June 2016 | Bucharest, Romania DAY 1 - Tuesday 28 June 09:00 – 10:00

Registration

10:00 – 10:15

Inaugural Speech

10:15 – 11:30

Welcoming Remarks

11:30 – 11:45

Group Photo

11:45 – 12:00

Tea & Coffee Break

12:00 – 12:15

Launch of CYFI 2016-2020 Strategy

12:15 – 13:15

Youth Economic Citizenship: A reality by 2020

13:15 – 14:15

Lunch

14:15 – 15:30

Financial Education Landscape

15:30 – 15:45

Tea & Coffee break

15:45 – 17:00

Financial inclusion landscape Pre-dinner Sightseeing immediately after session ends – Optional

DAY 2 - Wednesday 29 June 09:15 – 09:30

Opening Keynote

09:30 – 10:30

Global Money Week

10:30 – 11:00

Exploring Realities of Youth Entrepreneurs

11:00 – 11:15

Tea & Coffee Break

11:15 – 12:15

Financial Education – practices from the civil society

12:15 – 13:15

Financial Inclusion – scaling up innovations from private sector

13:15 – 13:30

Tea & Coffee Break

13:30 – 14:30

Catalyzing Partnerships

14:30 – 14:45

Actions and reactions: country commitments to the network (Banking the Youth campaign launch)

14:45 – 15:00

Closing session

15:00 – 16:30

Celebratory Lunch

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ANNEX 3 - Summit Evaluation At the end of the Summit, CYFI asked participants to fill an evaluation form to gather their opinions on the organization, the content, the logistics and the overall impressions of the event.

The majority of the participants were representing government authorities (37.5%), followed by civil society organizations (22.5%) and financial service providers (10%). Regarding the regional

Sector Representation

aspect, the region which was more represented was Europe & Central Asia as the region that was most represented (70%) followed by Sub-Saharan Africa (15%).

Geographical Representation

• Government Authority • Financial Service Provider • Civil Society Organization • Academic • Multilateral • Other, please specify

• Europe & Central Asia • Middle East & North Africa • Global • Africa (Sub-Saharan) • Americas & The Carribean • Asia & The Pacific

The primary reason participants decided to attend the summit was networking (64.1%) followed by the possibility to learn from the others and the content of the sessions (51.3%) and for the content of the sessions (48.7%).

Overall the summit received a positive evaluation, with 50% of the participants rating the summit : “very good”, 45% rated it “good” and only 5% providing a rating of “neutral.” The summit format, logistics and food and beverage were also given similar ratings. The quality of the sessions and the quality of the speakers were also evaluated very positively (87% and 90%) When asked to give additional comments about the summit, participants appreciated the Summit structure but would have liked to explore in depth more practical examples and case studies, along with more audience interaction on the contents of the sessions. More networking opportunities were also 32

highlighted by a number of participants. When asked to indicate that aspects of the summit they enjoyed the most, participants gave mixed responses. Some participants found the financial education and inclusion landscape sessions the most practical to their work, while others appreciated hearing about the youth entrepreneurship projects. Many participants found the networking time more useful, while some enjoyed hearing about the CYFI Strategy for 2016-2020. Finally, when asked what topics they would like to see covered at future CYFI conferences, participants indicated that they wished to see more on how CYFI could

support partner organizations with program development. There was particular interest in seeing more attention paid to entrepreneurship education and methods for monitoring and evaluation. Based on their experience at the summit, the majority of participants (76.9%) indicated that they would attend other CYFI conferences in the future, with 23.1% remaining neutral on the issue and no one indicating that they would never attend another CYFI event again.


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www.childfinanceinternational.org | T +31 (0)20 520 3900 | E info@childfinance.org Amsterdam, the Netherlands


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