GWL Voices’ Statement for the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development

Investing in women and girls is essential for building peaceful, just, and sustainable societies. Yet current global financing systems continue to underdeliver. Inequality, austerity, and gender-blind policies persist—not for lack of resources, but for lack of political will.

With only five years left to achieve the SDGs, FfD4 is a once-in-a-generation chance to reset. We must fund development that puts women and girls at the center. Here’s what needs to change:

• 📉 Today’s Financing for Development Landscape
• 📉 ODA is declining, especially for countries most in need
• 💸 Debt is rising, shrinking fiscal space for key services
• ⚖️ Inequality—within and between countries—is widening
• 🔥 Climate impacts hit women and girls hardest
• 💔 Grassroots women’s groups remain underfunded
• 🙅‍♀️ Women are still excluded from finance decision-making

Against this backdrop, GWL Voices calls for:

1. 🔁 A Bold Transformation of Global Economic and Financial Architecture
1. 💳 Alleviate Debt Burdens: Free up resources for gender-responsive services
2. 💼 Include a Gender Lens in Tax and Fiscal Policy: Make budgets fairer
3. 👩🏽‍💼 Support Women in the Labour Market: Equal pay, decent work
4. 🧹 Value and Fund the Care Economy: Recognize and remunerate unpaid care work
5. 🏦 Guarantee Women’s Full and Equitable Access to Financial Services: Close the digital and financial gender gap
2. 🌿 Integrating the Climate-Gender Nexus into a Gendered Financing for Developme
1. 🧩 Align Development and Climate Finance Goals: Gender and climate must go hand in hand
2. ➕ Ensure Climate Finance is New and Additional: Don’t divert funds from other critical needs
3. 💰 Scale Up Concessional Climate Finance: Prioritize grants for climate-vulnerable countries
4. 🎯 Commit to Gender-Responsive Climate Finance: Only 3% of current funds do
5. 👩🏿‍🌾 Make Climate Finance Accessible to Women and Girls: Especially in rural and poor areas
6. 💼 Ensure a Gender-Responsive Just Transition: Green jobs must be gender-equal
3. 🌐 A More Equitable, Inclusive and Effective Global Economic Governance System
1. 🔧 Reform the Global Financial Architecture: Out with outdated models, in with gender equity
2. 👩‍💻 Expand Women’s Participation and Leadership: Parity in economic decision-making
3. 📊 Ensure Implementation and Accountability: Gender data, financial targets, and transparent budgeting

🚨 One in a Generation Opportunity

FfD4 must go beyond words. It must deliver resources, reforms, and results. Let’s finance a future where women and girls can thrive — and where global finance finally works for everyone. 🌎✊

#FfD4 #InvestInWomen #FinancingForDevelopment #GenderEquality #ClimateJustice #CareEconomy #WomenInMultilateralism #UNReform