CABEI commemorates International Women's Day by promoting equal opportunities for regional development
The multilateral has a monitoring and compliance system that studies and ensures the positive impact of its investments on the female population.
Tegucigalpa, March 8th, 2022.- Promoting programs, projects and initiatives that favor equality of opportunities and economic and social conditions in the region is the objective of the Central American Bank for Economic Integration (CABEI) when it established "Gender Equity" as one of its cross-cutting themes in its Institutional Strategy 2020-2024.
This is how the multilateral organization commemorates this International Women's Day by promoting regional development, ensuring that its operations have a direct impact on Central Americans on equal terms, promoting the reduction of the gap in access to credit, strengthening their capacities, and involving them in innovative activities, among others.
Proof of this is that, through its operations approved in 2021, it is estimated that 7,701 jobs will be created for women, 15 policies will be implemented to promote equal and equitable access to initiatives and agreements, and 287,706 people in situations of violence will be assisted, and 31 comprehensive gender assistance centers will be set up.
CABEI Executive President, Dr. Dante Mossi, explained that CABEI's operations are analyzed and evaluated to ensure that there is no gender discrimination, that women have access to decision-making positions and that they receive equal remuneration; at the same time, positive differentiation is required for those who are in situations of vulnerability, risk or marked inequality.
"In the monitoring, social and environmental evaluation carried out by CABEI, gender issues are taken into consideration in the projects financed by the Bank in order to closely follow and study the impact of the programs, projects and their investments on this population. Some of the follow-up indicators include, among others, the percentage of women-owned MSMEs that have access to credit, the number of men and women who have had access to training, among other indicators," explained CABEI's Environmental and Social Monitoring Coordinator, Norma Palma.
These monitoring and compliance efforts are complemented by alliances with CABEI's strategic partners to strengthen access to financing and technical assistance for women. For example, together with allies such as UN Women, a non-refundable financial contribution was signed to guarantee access to credit for businesswomen economically affected by COVID-19, and a facility to assist their economic empowerment is under negotiation, among other initiatives, explained CABEI's Executive for Strategic Alliances and International Cooperation, María Gabriela García.
In line with compliance with the 2030 Agenda, CABEI carries out actions to contribute to the objectives proposed therein and, specifically with Development Goal 5: "Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls", it is committed to both external and internal actions.
Internally, the multilateral has had a Gender Equality Policy since 2010 with the support of the United Nations Fund for Women (UNIFEM) of UN Women; and since 2019 it is the first Central American organization to achieve the Economic Dividends for Gender Equality (EDGE) certification, which was ratified in 2021 upon recognition of compliance with indicators such as equal pay for work, recruitment and promotion, training and mentoring for leadership development, flexible work and corporate culture.
