Women  Leadership is  in credit unions is defined as women having an access to the decision marking in credit union in every level in order to provide better  financial services  to the  women  and  women’s participation in decision-making that leads to their improved economic standards. During the last 26 years ACCU provided services to member countries on gender training and policy development to create a conductive environment.  ACCU has introduced a specially focused microfinance WECUMI (savings and credit with education) program to its members, with emphasis on women members since 1999.  About 60%  to 70%of the have less outreach are women, which is indicative that women need more access to credit and savings.  It is also a proven fact that poor women need to have self-employment by engaging into a viable micro-enterprise.

However, there are prevailing issues in credit unions regarding the low level of outreach to marginalized women in their communities. The credit unions are not maximizing the huge market segment that women provide. Appropriate loan packages are not developed to meet the economic needs of this sector, such as market vendors, owners of small village shops, food sellers. They need capital for their small businesses but they approach other credit sources rather than the credit unions in their villages. Why is this so? What are the factors behind this situation? How can the credit unions effectively address these issues?  These are related to women leadership and decision  marking in CUs