Gender equality is an urgent moral and economic imperative. Yet achieving it is uniquely challenging and complex. We must act collectively to accelerate gender equality for a more peaceful, prosperous, and livable world.
During the event, speakers from government, international organizations, the private sector, and civil society pressed for the economic inclusion and empowerment of women, agreeing on the enormous benefits to economies and societies of accelerating gender equality. They stressed the importance of commitment and action of international and national actors to pave a path toward equality, despite the scale of the challenge, and concentrated on the transformative potential of women’s financial empowerment, highlighting the essential role for public finance in reaching women and girls with social services, especially the poorest and most vulnerable.
In support of accelerating gender equality, the World Bank Group aims to release a new Gender Strategy for the 2024-2030 early next year – an ongoing consultation process on the proposed Strategy is open until November 30, 2023.
The Women Entrepreneurs Finance Code (the WE Finance Code) – a commitment by financial service providers, regulators, development banks, and other financial ecosystem players to work together to increase funding provided to women-led enterprises – was launched the following day. A Joint Statement of Support was signed by the presidents of six multilateral development banks – We-Fi’s Implementing Partners, who will pilot the WE Finance Code in 24 countries across the developing world.
