The Canada-based NGO Toronto Centre, with funding from the US Agency for International Development (USAID), recently released a toolkit titled First Step: Integrating Gender into Technology-enabled Financial Sector Supervision, “to assist financial supervisors from emerging markets with integrating gender dimensions into their supervisory practices.” The toolkit, which emphasizes the relevance of gender awareness and inclusion, offers the following features: (1) treatment of a range of market and regulatory contexts; (2) a modular format allowing supervisors to focus on aspects most relevant to their organizations; and (3) step-by-step guidance designed to allow supervisors to incorporate new methods easily into their daily practices. The toolkit is supported by video (webinar), audio (podcast) and written (transcripts) commentary and case studies in English and Spanish. These resources, along with the toolkit itself, can be accessed at https://www.torontocentre.org/News/Gender-Aware-Supervision-Toolkit.
Toronto Centre provides training to financial sector regulators and supervisors, especially in low- and middle-income countries, with the goal of promoting financial stability and access. This training spans “banking, insurance, securities, pensions, microfinance and microinsurance supervision.” During 2020, the NGO delivered 75 programs, training 3,000 individuals, of whom 52 percent were women.
Founded in 1961, USAID provides international economic and humanitarian assistance. It is active in areas such as economic growth, agriculture, trade, health, democracy, conflict prevention and humanitarian assistance. During its 2020 fiscal year, USAID operated in approximately 100 countries at a net cost of USD 13.7 billion.
By Sheen Gupta, Research Associate
Sources and Additional Resources
Toronto Centre press release
https://www.torontocentre.org/News/Gender-Aware-Supervision-Toolkit
Toronto Centre annual reports
https://www.torontocentre.org/About
USAID homepage
https://www.usaid.gov/
Previous MicroCapital article on USAID
https://www.microcapital.org/microcapital-brief-hdfc-bank-to-lend-100m-to-micro-small-medium-sized-enterprises-msmes-in-india-half-led-by-women-with-support-from-dfc-mastercard-usaid/
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