Financing for Gender Equality

With the Third International Conference on Financing for Development (FfD3) taking place in Ethiopia from 13-16 July, what is the relevance and importance of gender equality to global development finance debates?

The conference brought together high level political representatives, non-governmental organisations and business sector stakeholders to produce an inter-governmentally negotiated and agreed outcome document, with the potential for great impact on the implementation of the new Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Gender equality advocates had welcomed the draft outcome document's recognition of the importance of gender equality and women's empowerment in order to achieve sustainable and equitable growth and development. But they argued that the draft does not go far enough, and that FfD3 represents a key opportunity to examine the broader macroeconomic climate and the ways that it exacerbates gender inequalities.

Jenny Birchall from BRIDGE argued that it is time to start listening to those advocating for the rights of the world’s most marginalised. Read her blog post here.

This update provides links to key resources which identify priorities, approaches and recommendations for financing gender equality with a focus on the post-2015 development agenda.