Women and girls experience inequality across many areas of life.

Systemic barriers, such as structural discrimination, adverse social and gender norms, and the disproportionate share of unpaid caregiving, constrain women’s access to education, employment opportunities, and financial resources.

Across the banking sector itself, current statistics demonstrate that the challenges of inequality persist for women both as employees and customers.

For example, Equileap’s 2023 report shows that while women make up over half of the banking workforce, they occupy only 23% of executive roles.[1]

In terms of customer metrics, SME Finance Forum in their MSME Finance Gap report indicate that “Gender gaps in financial health and inclusion persist across many regions of the world, including an estimated global credit gap of USD 1.5 trillion for women entrepreneurs.”[2]

Yet we know women are key to unlocking change due to the position they occupy as financial decision-makers, asset accumulators, employees and business owners, across both the formal and informal economy.

For this reason, the United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative (UNEP FI) is pleased to announce that during its 2024 Global Roundtable, UNEP FI will launch co-authored guidance with UN Women on Advancing Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment: Target Setting Guidance for Banks. Designed to support the significant role banks have in closing the gender gap, the new guidance provides clear, actionable steps for banks to prioritise women’s empowerment in the workplace, marketplace and community.

Aligned with the aims of UN Sustainable Development Goal 5 – Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls – the Principles for Responsible Banking (PRB) and the Women’s Empowerment Principles (WEPs) serve as the cornerstone frameworks and principles for this critical gender equality work, which includes:

  • A holistic framework for action, inclusive of a bank’s workplace policies and practices, business strategies and portfolios, as well as products and services
  • Metrics to track progress.
  • Checklists and indicators to review the bank’s current practices
  • Case studies from financial institutions worldwide.

The ambition of this new guidance is to support banks – both retail and corporate – to advance gender equality and women’s empowerment through the lens of sustainable, inclusive and responsible finance using a variety of critical pathways: 

  • 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.

By setting targets, tracking progress and establishing transparent and accountable reporting practices to ensure gender equality goals are met, leading responsible banks are given the means to drive change in the real economy which benefits people of all genders, whilst building a more equitable and resilient financial system overall. 

Download the Gender Equality Guidance here.

Download Repository Documents here:

[1] Equileap. 2023. Gender Equality Global Report & Ranking: 2023 Edition. Available at: equileap.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Equileap_Global_Report_2023.pdf

[2] SME Finance Forum. “MSME Finance Gap”. Accessed July 2024. smefinanceforum.org/data-sites/msme-finance-gap