Gender Action was founded in 2002 to ensure that the international
financial institutions (IFI's), especially the World Bank, promote
gender equality in all of their investments. Although the World Bank
has a gender policy, it isn’t being implemented because it is not
mandatory. Gender Action’s founder, Elaine Zuckerman, knows this well,
as she worked inside of the World Bank for many years. Her goal is to
shift the World Bank’s gender policy from “desirable” to “mandatory” and
thus transform the norms inside the institution. Gender Action’s
strategies include research and advocacy on the IFI's and governments,
and training women's groups and other civil society organizations to
analyze and advocate for gender equality in IFI investments.
Over
the last 15 years, the unprecedented policy shift from national to
global has increased the power of the World Bank and International
Monetary Fund. Their massive loans, however, hardly reflect the voices
of women. Nor do they address the negative impacts of IFI macro
policies. Despite the IFI's hundreds of billions of dollars of
investments in "poverty reduction," 70% of the world’s poor are female,
and poverty continues to feminize. Gender Action is taking the lead in
global and country-by-country advocacy to promote women’s opportunities
in influential multilateral investments.
Three Guineas awarded Gender Action a multi--year $60,000 grant to help
the organization launch, establish an office, hire its first staff, and
raise additional essential funds.
Contact: Elaine Zuckerman,
President and Founder
elainez@genderaction.org
(202) 234 7722
http://www.genderaction.org/
