Advancing gender equality and women’s empowerment: Target-setting guidance for banks

Target-setting guidance for banks 2024. United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UNWomen) and the United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative (UNEP FI). All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrievalsystem, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopy-ing, recording or otherwise, without prior permission of the United Nations EnvironmentProgramme and UN Women. Disclaimer The designations employed and the presentation of material in this publication do notimply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Secretariat of theUnited Nations concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or itsauthorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. Mentioning a commercial company or product in this document does not imply endorse-ment by the United Nations Environment Programme or UN Women or the authors. Theuse of information from this document for publicity or advertising is not permitted.Trademark names and symbols are used editorially with no intention of infringement oftrademark or copyright laws. The views expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarilyreflect the views of the United Nations Environment Programme or UN Women or theirMember States. We regret any errors or omissions that may have been made unwittingly. © Maps, photos and illustrations as specified. Cover image:Pexels Suggested citation:UNEP FI and UN Women. 2024.Advancing Gender Equality andWomen’s Empowerment: Target-Setting Guidance For Banks. Geneva and New York. Acknowledgements This guidance, which builds on existing guidance on the Principles for Responsible Banking(PRB) and Women’s Empowerment Principles (WEPs), has been developed by and forbanks, through a strategic partnership between UNEP FI and UN Women and a workinggroup of 19 banks, including those shown below that are PRB and/or WEPs signatories. We wish to specifically acknowledge the role of the Working Group co-leads: DawnBailey, Head of Financial Wellbeing, Jillian Clarkin, Head of Customer Journeys, Sustain-ablity Solutions & SME Sectors, and Deirdre Gavin HR Director Corporate & CommercialBanking, Head of Inclusion & Diversity at Bank of Ireland and Angela Maria Panqueva,Director of Inclusion & Equity, and Christian Quiroga, Head of Communications andImage at Bancamía. We also wish to thank the peer reviewers who provided their expertise to strengthenthis guidance: Jessica Espinoza, 2X Global; Sheida Elmi and Celine Apollon, The AspenInstitute; Nisha Singh GFCGP; Estelle Marie Lahaye; Eric Duflos; Karina Brons Nielsen;Jennifer Morgan, Patrick Spaven and Antonique Koning, Consultative Group to Assistthe Poor (CGAP); Caroline Arteaga, Inez Murray and Tessa Ruben, Financial Alliance forWomen; Angela Fontes, Financial Health Network; Eloise Duncan, Financial ResilienceInstitute; Paula Pelaez, Inter-American Development Bank (IDB); Rani Meerabi Pooran,International Finance Corporation (IFC); Emily Gaston, International Sustainability Stand-ards Board (ISSB); Karol Acon, UN Women; Michael Budolfsen and Anna Maria Romao,UNI Global Union; Farid Tadros, We-Fi Secretariat at the World Bank Group; and JaclynBerfond and Karen Miller, Women’s World Banking. Publishers:UN Women and UNEP FI Lead authors:Alexandra Lockyer (UN Women) and Laura Diaz Zea (UNEP FI) Other authors and contributors:Aditi Srivastava, Anna Falth, Christian Olsen, CareenAbb, Cassandra Devine, Costanza Ghera, Joana Pedro, Johanna Dichtl, Mihwa Park andVanina Vincensini. Editor:Andy Quan. Abbreviations and acronyms CEOChief Executive OfficerCGAPConsultative Group to Assist the PoorCHROChief Human Resources OfficerCSOChief Sustainability OfficerCSRDCorporate Sustainability Reporting DirectiveDEIDiversity, Equity and InclusionESGEnvironmental, Social and GovernanceESRSEuropean Sustainability Reporting StandardsEUEuropean UnionFSPsFinancial Service ProvidersGRIGlobal Reporting InitiativeICMAInternational Capital Market AssociationIDBInter-American Development BankIFCInternational Finance CorporationIFRSInternational Financial Reporting StandardsILOInternational Labour OrganizationKPIsKey Performance IndicatorsKYCKnow Your CustomerMSMEMicro, Small and Medium-sized EnterprisesOECDOrganization for Economic Co-operation and DevelopmentPRBPrinciples for Responsible BankingSDGSustainable Development GoalsSMARTSpecific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-boundSMESmall and Medium-sized EnterprisesUNECAUnited Nations Economic Commission for AfricaUNEP FIUnited Nations Environment Program Finance InitiativeUNESCOUnited Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural OrganizationWE Finance CodeWomen Entrepreneurs Finance CodeWE-FiWomen Entrepreneurs Finance InitiativeWEPsWomen’s Empowerment Principles Contents Introduction Executive summary Banks have a vital and multidimensional role to play in advanc