FINCA Armenia has officially joined the United Nations Women’s Empowerment Principles (WEPs), reaffirming its commitment to advancing gender equality, fostering women’s empowerment in the workplace and business environment, and eliminating discrimination.

The official signing ceremony took place on July 25, with Banks.am also in attendance.

“Joining the UN Women’s Empowerment Principles is not just a symbolic step for us. It reflects the values we’ve embraced and upheld for 26 years in Armenia. Since the very beginning, our mission has been to empower people through financial inclusion. Women have always been at the heart of our work. Today, we are proud to say that around 40% of our clients are women. They have used our services to start businesses, support their families, and contribute to their communities. But our dedication goes beyond just our clients — 60% of our team are women, many of whom hold leadership roles. We don’t just talk about gender equality — we live it every day,” said Steven Hass, CEO of FINCA Armenia, during the ceremony.

According to Irena Balayan, Head of the Marketing Department at FINCA Armenia, after identifying the challenges women entrepreneurs face, the institution developed a special loan product called “Women in Business” to support women in advancing their business activities.

“Every year, as part of Women’s Month, we carry out initiatives that reach women across Armenia — whether they are FINCA clients or not. These include educational programs in agriculture and business development, branding and marketing support, and more. Our financial literacy programs reach around 1,000 individuals annually, over half of whom are women. This is our way of building confidence and capacity among women entrepreneurs. Joining the Women’s Empowerment Principles fully aligns with our values. It opens up opportunities for collaboration, learning, knowledge sharing, and also a commitment to higher standards. We view this partnership with UN Women as a significant step toward a more equal, inclusive, and empowered future for all women in Armenia,” added Irena Balayan.

Olga Azatyan, Head of the Women's Economic Empowerment Programme at UN Women Armenia, emphasized that the WEPs offer a complete set of tools for businesses to integrate gender equality in practice:

“For instance, some organizations that joined the WEPs have already established breastfeeding rooms at the workplace, allowing mothers to continue their duties without interruption. Others are exploring on-site daycare options, enabling women to bring their children to work. We also encourage companies to extend gender-inclusive practices to their supply chains.”

She further noted:

“After the signing, we work with each company to develop a tailored gender equality roadmap. We’ll be doing the same with FINCA Armenia in the coming months — assessing what changes they are ready to make internally. A lot has already been achieved, which gives us confidence that our collaboration will be a success.”

Irina Chobanyan, Head of Business Development at the Armenia Securities Exchange (AMX), also highlighted AMX’s dedication to gender equality in the financial sector:

“Since 2019, we’ve participated in the global ‘Ring the Bell for Gender Equality’ initiative, standing alongside the world’s leading stock exchanges. In 2020, we took this commitment further by officially joining the UN Women’s Empowerment Principles, reinforcing our pledge to promote equal opportunities. We’re proud that over 60% of our staff are women, with more than 50% holding leadership positions.”

She also noted:

“It is especially important to us that a significant portion of our collaborating traders, financial advisors, and partner organizations are also women. This reflects major progress in a field historically dominated by men. We are delighted to see the growing number of companies joining the WEPs and warmly congratulate FINCA Armenia on taking this important step.”

Arpi Jilavyan

Photos: Emin Aristakesyan