Abstract
Development Financial Institutions (DFIs) have a unique role to play in COVID-19 recovery efforts in Sub-Saharan Africa in the coming years. By using gender lens investing, DFIs can collectively further gender equality in the region by stimulating the private sector to combat the disproportionately negative effects of the pandemic felt by women. Decades of progress in Sub-Saharan Africa is now under threat, and if women are not at the forefront of recovery efforts. The pandemic was particularly detrimental to the Sub-Saharan economy due to its informality, and the reality that many live hand-to-mouth with limited social protections. Lockdowns exacerbated gender inequality in the region, placing many additional responsibilities on women and increasing their unpaid care work.
This chapter outlines improvements which can be made by DFIs reflecting on a survey undertaken by the Centre for Global Development. Through improvements in knowledge sharing and rigorous internal practices which ensure gender equity, DFIs can enhance their positive impact within the region and better help achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). By reflecting on the realities of the COVID-19 pandemic in relation to women, and what measures can be taken to improve gender equality in the region, this chapter also considers the importance of DFIs in achieving the SDGs reflecting on one of its central tenets—leaving no one behind.
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Blessing, A. (2022). Leaving No One Behind: Development Financial Institutions and Gender Lens Investing in Sub-Saharan Africa. In: Hosli, M.O., Blessing, A., Iacovidou, I. (eds) The Global, Regional and Local Politics of Institutional Responses to COVID-19. Sustainable Development Goals Series. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-09913-7_2
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