Gender Equality

Investing in women’s empowerment provides the critical leverage required to advance gender equality, poverty eradication and inclusive economic growth.   

Financial institutions are essential partners in this collective mission. By integrating gender equality into workplace-related policies and practices, business strategies and portfolios, products and services, banks can drive meaningful progress towards a more equitable and resilient financial system, and healthier and more inclusive economies that benefit people of all genders. 

How financial institutions can advance gender equality and women’s empowerment 

Banks can influence gender equality and women’s empowerment in multiple ways as an employer, financer, financial service provider and participant in the broader economic, political, and social ecosystem:

• Gender-responsive leadership and work environment: by providing decent work opportunities in which employees of all genders, roles and levels can participate fully.
• Portfolio shift: by driving changes in the real economy through corporate and business clients, by integrating gender-focused criteria into due diligence processes and by aligning financial flows with women’s empowerment objectives.
• Financial health and inclusion: by supporting women, girls and women-owned and women-led micro-, small- and medium-sized businesses to access, use and benefit from financial products and services that ultimately support their financial health.
• Ecosystem shift: by influencing or partnering with governments, suppliers, and communities to drive systemic change beyond the financial sector.

Access the tools to drive change 

Download UNEP FI and UN Women’s Gender Equality Guidance to access tools, insights, and strategies to make a lasting impact. The guidance includes:

• A holistic framework for action and a pathway to impact in the workplace, marketplace and community.
• Metrics to track progress.
• Checklists and indicators to review the bank’s current practices:
  • Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment Indicator Database
  • Checklist for gender-responsive financial health strategy 
  • Checklist for gender-disaggregated data management 
  • Checklist for portfolio shift gender analysis 
  • Checklist for gender-responsive leadership and work environment 
• Case studies from financial institutions worldwide.

Translated Resources

Spanish:

• Guía sobre Igualdad de Género de UNEP FI y ONU Mujeres: “Avanzando la igualdad de género y el empoderamiento de las mujeres: Guía para el establecimiento de metas en bancos“
• Listas de verificación e indicadores para evaluar las prácticas actuales del banco:
  • Base de datos de indicadores sobre igualdad de género y empoderamiento de las mujeres
  • Lista de verificación para bancos: estrategia de salud financiera con enfoque de género
  • Lista de verificación para bancos: gestión de datos de género
  • Lista de verificación para bancos: cambio de portafolio – análisis de género
  • Lista de verificación para un liderazgo y entorno laboral con perspectiva de género