Recognizing that aspiring businesswomen are often prevented from realizing their economic potential, the IFC is committed to creating opportunities for women in business. The gender program aims to mainstream gender issues into IFC's work, while helping to better leverage the untapped potential of women as well as men in emerging markets.

IFC provides financial products and advisory services to:

• increase access to finance for women entrepreneurs
• reduce gender-based barriers in the business environment
• improve the sustainability of IFC investment projects.

Recent Highlights

IFC Partners with Global Reporting Initiative to Improve Corporate Reporting on Gender Issues
IFC signed an agreement with the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) for a twelve month research and consultation project to help private enterprises worldwide create new opportunities for women, adopt best practices in sustainability reporting, and improve their bottom lines. The project will develop a Gender Sustainability Reporting Resource Guide intended for companies that want to establish themselves as leaders in managing gender issues.

This project is part of a larger IFC-GRI partnership to help companies adopt sustainability reporting as a tool for improving environmental, social, and business performance. The governments of Germany, Iceland, and Switzerland are lead sponsors of the project. Read more on Gender and CSR. For more information, please contact contact Carmen Niethammer.