Financing for Gender Equality
All national and international economic and development policies affect women in ways that advance or hinder gender equality. At the same time, sustainable economic growth and human development rest on women’s equal participation in the economy. Effective policy choices and development financing must therefore be tailored to the needs of both women and men.
Financing for gender equality is more than just securing resources and funding for institutions such as national women’s machineries, women’s organizations and networks, and gender equality projects. To accomplish sustainable and deep-rooted changes, financing for gender equality must also entail the design and implementation of economic policies that give women and men access to decent work, food security, and social insurance and protection. With appropriate policies and sufficient resources, countries should be able to achieve both targeted support to activities directly focused on gender equality, and transformative shifts towards an equitable economy.
UNIFEM is promoting the financing for gender equality agenda in the review processes of two important international agreements that are underway in 2008:
These processes offer key opportunities to move forward with an agenda that underscores the integral links between gender equality and development financing and achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
