The JIFM 2025 took place from 13 to 15 July at the Maison de l’Entreprise in Abidjan. Co- organised by PASS, Mutualité Française, and AIM on the theme Women, Financial Inclusion, and Health, the event gathered leaders from health funds and mutuals and the social and solidarity economy, representatives of WHO and UNDP, Ivorian ministries, primary care networks, and financial institutions. The goal was both practical and political: equip women leaders with immediately usable tools and secure concrete commitments so that financial inclusion serves health.

The programme had three parts. First, practical workshops strengthened individual and organisational capacities: life and career planning, time and priority management, basic finance for mutuals, and governance for inclusive leadership. Next, technical sessions presented available financial inclusion mechanisms in the region (FAFCI, Fonds Femmes et Développement, offers from Cofina and Ecobank) with a focus on eligibility and safe use by women members of mutuals. Finally, a public policy dialogue brought together regulators and health actors to link inclusive finance with nonprofit care provision, addressing consumer protection, information sharing with providers, and the role of community health centres.

Panels analysed in detail how women’s access to credit in urban and rural areas can translate into better access to nonprofit health services. Contributions tied financial products to concrete health results: continuity of maternal child care, prevention and treatment of chronic diseases, and lower out of pocket spending through pre financing and negotiated tariffs. Country tandems then developed a shared roadmap and a short list of priority actions with focal points, quick wins, and items for ministerial validation.

For AIM, the conference mattered in four ways. First, it put women’s leadership in mutuals at the centre of universal health coverage and prevention, fully aligned with AIM’s mission. Second, it strengthened partnerships with African Union institutions and health authorities, opening pathways to adapt mutualist solutions beyond the Francophone sphere. Third, it delivered operational outputs: a draft roadmap for women centred financial inclusion, a demonstrator linking inclusive finance with community health centres, and commitments to continue technical exchanges with banking partners. Fourth, it increased AIM’s visibility in West Africa and among development partners, at a time when sustainable, solidarity based health financing needs credible examples.

Risks and safeguards were openly discussed: fragmentation of small funds, over indebtedness, and weak links between financial offers and health services. Agreed countermeasures included simple, supported eligibility criteria, transparent pricing, referral pathways to nonprofit providers, and indicators tracking both financial uptake and use of health services.

In short: JIFM 2025 consolidated political backing, defined actionable next steps, and expanded AIM partnerships. It combined capacity building for women leaders with concrete ways to connect finance and health, giving the mutualist movement a practical agenda for the months ahead.