Based on a survey of 16 development finance institutions (DFIs), this document offers a baseline of the extent to which “institutions incorporate gender objectives or analysis when developing investments, assessing development effectiveness, sourcing deals, and making investment decisions.” In particular, the survey investigates: (1) internal activities, such as the treatment of employees and establishment of gender-aware policies; and (2) external activities, such as investing and providing technical assistance.
On a scale of zero to 100, the average survey scores are 68 percent and 54 percent, respectively, for external and internal activities. As per external scores, the top performing DFIs are IDB Invest, a member of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) Group, at 98 percent and the UK-based CDC Group at 88 percent. For internal operations, the top scorers are IDB Invest and the World Bank Group’s International Finance Corporation, both at 79 percent.
The authors argue for several practices to be institutionalized and made more transparent. Half of the DFIs do not incorporate gender scores into investment decision making. Most collect gender-disaggregated data, but only 19 percent require staff training on gender inclusion. While 86 percent measure the gender gap in salaries, only 21 percent publish this data. Only one DFI buys supplies from women-owned enterprises.
The study closes with the following recommendations for DFIs: (1) Improve the transparency of internal operations by publishing gender-disaggregated data on vendors, hiring, staff salaries, percent of female managers and percent of female board members; (2) Create targets to increase the number and share of outgoing gender-lens investments; (3) Mandate gender-inclusive training of management and staff to strengthen investment design; (4) Consider gender-related impact in every investment decision; and (5) Collaborate with private investors on policies and initiatives promoting women’s empowerment, such as the 2X Challenge, which was founded by eight DFIs.
This is a summary of a paper by Nancy Lee, Megan O’Donnell and Kelsey Ross; published by Centre for Global Development; September 2020; 14 pages; available at https://www.cgdev.org/publication/gender-equity-development-finance-survey
By Romil Pandey, Research Associate
Additional Resources
2X Challenge homepage
https://www.2xchallenge.org/
Centre for Global Development homepage
https://www.cgdev.org/
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