Gender-Responsive Finance | Frankfurt School
Wählen Sie Ihre Sprache
Gender-Responsive Finance
Frankfurt School is the world leader in designing and executing sustainable gender mainstreaming initiatives for financial institutions. Our advisory services successfully promote gender-responsive banking across diverse territories. A cornerstone of our approach is deploying a meticulously tested and proven gender diagnostic methodology tailored particularly for commercial and multilateral development banks. Combined with our expertise, this methodology facilitates the formulation of gender strategies, action plans, robust reporting frameworks, and monitoring mechanisms, all collectively geared towards cultivating gender-responsive operations that align with industry-level reporting standards. As a result of our dedicated efforts, we proudly support financial operations that benefit women and girls.
Our commitment to gender inclusivity is all-encompassing, permeating financial institutions' internal and external actions. This holistic approach serves as a catalyst, spawning synergy between realms, such as the cross-cutting elements between gender equality and climate change, rural development, migration, and sustainable agriculture. Our UNEP Collaborating Centre for Climate & Sustainable Energy Finance is a strategic asset, positioning gender considerations at the forefront of climate change endeavours.
Our gender-focused capacity-building programs are precisely calibrated to empower women entrepreneurs. We facilitate their financial and managerial knowledge and skills through a blend of training, seminars, webinars, and other technical advice services. As an added value, we have devised unique self-diagnostic tools that enable women entrepreneurs to identify their strengths and areas open to improvement within their businesses. We also engage in dialogue with policymakers to design gender-informed programs to facilitate women’s economic and social empowerment.
Our Projects:
Türkiye Women in Business(TurWiB) Technical Cooperation Programme (Phase I & II)
Donor: EBRD & EU
Beneficiary: Partner financial institutions, Turkish women-led MSMEs and women entrepreneurs
Year: September 2014 – May 2024
This large-scale technical assistance programme addresses the barriers and multidimensional nature of women-led small and medium-sized enterprises (“women's enterprises”) in Türkiye's economic growth.
Under the “financing” component of the project, we support Turkish partner banks’ management and employees to understand the specific needs and expectations of women-led enterprises and thus serve their demands better. To ensure this, we developed the in-house capacity of partner banks via training programmes and workshops, alongside improving their internal lending mechanisms and business models for women’s banking.
Under the advisory part of the project, we provide direct capacity-building activities (i.e., WiB seminars, workshops, webinars, training) to Turkish women-led enterprises, women entrepreneurs, and to-be-entrepreneurs and enhanced their financial and managerial skills to operate their businesses better. Thanks to these components of the programme, we increase the competitiveness of Turkish women in businesses by facilitating their access to finance, knowledge, market, and network.
Strengthening Gender Equality in the Development Banking Sector
Donor: AFD
Beneficiary: International Development Finance Club (IDFC)
Year: October 2020 – June 2022
The primary purpose of the study was to reinforce the critical role that IDFC can play in the development of an inclusive and sustainable economy respecting gender equality in the internal and external activities of its members. The ultimate target was to support IDFC’s activities promoting gender-sensitive practices in the development banking sector.
Within this scope, we conducted a thorough qualitative and quantitative diagnosis of gender-inclusive financing practices of 10 member development banks of IDFC. We developed implementable action plans for each in their external practices to promote gender mainstreaming and gender-inclusive financing.
Mapping Gender Equality within the IDFC
Donor: AFD
Beneficiary: International Development Finance Club (IDFC)
Year: September 2022 – May 2023
The study aimed to strengthen the work and stance of IDFC members towards gender equality and to develop a gender-sensitive joint roadmap to implement in their financing operations.
Technical Assistance Services for GenderMainstreaming in TKYB’s Practices
Donor: AFD
Beneficiary: Turkish Development and Investment Bank (TKYB)
Year: February 2023 – February 2025
The study aims to develop/improve gender-sensitive financing operations within TKYB, which are structured and audited by the UN Sustainable Development Goals and OECD DAC Gender Indicator.
The operation’s primary purpose is to design in-house practices and mechanisms that mainstream gender equality in this direction. Moreover, the project aims to create a diverse work environment within TKYB where inclusivity is among the core values.
Kazakhstan Women in Business Programme Phase II
Donor: EBRD & EU
Beneficiary: Partner financial institutions, Kazakh women entrepreneurs and women-led MSMEs
Year: March 2016 – December 2024
This large-scale technical assistance programme addresses the barriers and multidimensional nature of women-led and women-owned small and medium-sized enterprises, "Women in Businesses (WiBs)", in Kazakhstan's economic growth. Under the "financing" component of the project, we support Kazakh partner financial institutions' management and employees to understand the specific needs and expectations of WiBs and thus serve their demands better.
To guarantee progress, we develop the in-house capacity of partner banks via training programmes and workshops, alongside improving their internal lending mechanisms and business models for women’s banking. Under the advisory part of the project, we provide direct capacity-building activities (i.e., WiB seminars, workshops, webinars, and training) to Kazakh WiBs and enhance their financial and managerial skills to operate their businesses better.
Through these programme elements, we increase the competitiveness of Kazakh WiBs by facilitating their access to finance, know-how, market, and network.
