Gender champions are agents of change in development finance institutions (DFIs). They drive efforts to embed gender equality in the DNA of their organisations and promote inclusive lending practices to narrow funding gaps for women entrepreneurs. The ICR Facility, which advises DFIs in African, Caribbean, and Pacific countries on gender mainstreaming, has invited gender champions from DFIs in Jamaica and Namibia to share examples of how they are advancing gender inclusion and offer advice for other DFIs.
Championing Gender Inclusion at the Development Bank of Jamaica
With a background in gender advocacy in the Caribbean, Kristina Neil joined the Development Bank of Jamaica (DBJ) as a gender specialist in April 2024 to implement its Gender Equality Policy and Action Plan.
As an arm of the government, DBJ plays a critical role in promoting economic development in Jamaica, and its gender policy is aligned to Jamaica’s Vision 2030 development plan as well as to international best practices in gender-lens investing and financial inclusion.
One of Neil’s first tasks was coordinating a gender assessment of DBJ. This provided a comprehensive, bird’s-eye view of the bank’s strengths and limitations, from internal operations to products, services and client engagement.
The assessment found that women occupy 79% of management roles and 55% of executive positions at DBJ. “It was really a good signal that we had so many women in decision-making roles,” says Neil, reflecting DBJ’s dedication to an inclusive work environment. However, the assessment also revealed that many employees lacked familiarity with gender concepts and their impact on finance.
In response, Neil has organised training for staff at all levels to ensure they understand the policy, integrate gender considerations into their work and see gender-lens investing as a core business strategy. She is also helping to integrate SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, time-bound) goals in DBJ’s gender policy. “We need to ensure that our gender policy is actionable, measurable, and tied to real outcomes.”
DBJ offers inclusive financial products via approved financial and micro-finance institutions. The assessment found that while many women entrepreneurs secure microfinance loans through DBJ affiliates, far fewer seek financing for medium- or large-scale businesses. “This tells me that this is an area of intervention we really need to zone in on,” says Neil.
As part of DBJ’s response, Neil is helping to build a network of female entrepreneurs to address gender-related gaps in access to finance. In December 2024, DBJ hosted a networking and knowledge-sharing event called She Means Business that brought together women entrepreneurs, industry leaders, and financial decision-makers to discuss opportunities and challenges in gender-lens investing. “We wanted to get the people who are requesting funding in the same room as the people with the power to lend,” she explains. “This is just the start of a number of initiatives to build a strong network of female entrepreneurs.” Another is Boost Her Biz, a competition for women entrepreneurs looking to scale up their businesses.
These initiatives are connected to a wider effort by DBJ to ensure women see themselves reflected in its communications and understand how its products and services can support their businesses. “The gender assessment showed us that we needed to move beyond just making information available,” says Neil. “We had to be clearer about who our target audience is, recognise their specific needs, and make it explicit in our messaging that ‘this is for you.’” Through marketing, social media, and participation in expos, DBJ wants to ensure that women-owned businesses understand the financing options available and recognise DBJ’s role in supporting them.
Robust data collection will be critical in tracking how DBJ’s products and initiatives are impacting women. To that end, Neil is helping to enhance DBJ’s monitoring and evaluation (M&E) framework to integrate gender disaggregated data and measure progress. This will aid DBJ to measure progress, identify areas for further improvement, and strengthen accountability for gender inclusion across its operations. “We’re still refining our data collection and tracking tools, but in a few months, we’ll have tangible results,” says Neil. She adds, “I’d love to do another assessment in a year to see how far we’ve come.”
Gender Advocacy at the Environmental Investment Fund of Namibia
Kredula Shimwandi is a gender officer who oversees all gender-related activities at the Environmental Investment Fund of Namibia (EIF). Her path to gender advocacy grew out of her background as an environmentalist and recognition that gender inequality directly impacts climate resilience, resource access, and decision-making power.
EIF is a state-owned DFI that mobilises resources for climate adaptation and environmental sustainability projects. This includes providing grants to Community Based Organisations and loans through partner financial institutions to small and medium enterprises (SMEs) that integrate low-carbon and climate adaptation measures into their operations.
Gender is not a new area of focus for EIF – its first gender policy and action plan date to 2015, driven by its accreditation to the Green Climate Fund. Since then, EIF has moved beyond compliance requirements, integrating gender into its internal policies, operations, and project implementation, and aligning its gender efforts with both national and international gender equality frameworks. Notably, EIF has applied to join 2X Global, an international initiative that mobilises capital for women’s economic empowerment.
Like DBJ, EIF secured technical assistance from the ICR Facility in conducting a gender assessment that was finalised in February 2024. The results confirmed that gender mainstreaming was well-developed in project implementation, but that EIF was “a bit gender-blind internally,” says Shimwandi. For instance, the organisation employs more women than men, but women are less represented in middle and senior management. Additionally, the current gender policy was found to be comprehensive but lacking in departmental involvement, limiting efforts to fully mainstream gender inclusion.
As a next step, Shimwandi helped organise a three-day workshop to share the assessment findings, present a roadmap for the development of EIF’s new Gender Action Plan and generate awareness and action. The workshops, attended by all EIF staff including the CEO, were followed by specialised sessions.
This included a training session for EIF’s ten new gender champions who have been appointed within different departments. This an important development for an organisation of 65 employees, which “helps build internal accountability and ensures that gender inclusion is embedded across all areas of the organisation.”
Additionally, training was provided to the lending portfolio teams to address gender gaps in concessional loans. To further help redress such imbalances, EIF is developing a reporting tool with gender-responsive indicators for fund managers. It also plans to integrate a women’s empowerment component into its business incubator.
And Shimwandi is overseeing a study to analyse barriers faced by women entrepreneurs. “We need sufficient data to determine whether collateral requirements or other structural factors are preventing women from accessing finance,” she says. These findings will inform the additional steps EIF takes to improve access to loans for women-led businesses.
Advice for DFIs aiming to strengthen gender inclusion
- Appoint a gender specialist: “Without dedicated expertise, gender considerations can get lost in the shuffle,” says Neil. Personal commitment and communications skills are crucial, says Shimwandi. “They should be able to “make others understand why it’s important […] and make gender everyone’s responsibility.”
- Conduct a gender assessment: “Start with an institutional gender assessment to get a clear, objective view of where you stand. This helped us see where we were doing well and where we needed to do more,” Neil explains.
- Formulate a clear gender policy: “For an institution to fully integrate gender within their operations, it needs a policy with clear set targets and indicators within a gender action plan,” Shimwandi says. “Without a roadmap, it becomes quite difficult to integrate gender within your operations.”
- Secure senior-level buy-in: “Leadership support makes all the difference in embedding gender-lens investing,” Neil shares. “The more they understand the barriers women face, the more they see why this matters.”
- Establish a gender-responsive M&E framework: “It’s about measuring progress on specific indicators, assessing whether you’re hitting your targets, and ensuring regular monitoring of those actions,” says Shimwandi.
- Focus on the bigger picture: “We won’t see results immediately, but we’re laying the foundation for future impact,” says Neil. “Seeing gender move from being an ‘adjacent’ issue to being central to DBJ’s strategic planning is fulfilling.”
- Share lessons learned with other DFIs: “DFIs should actively exchange best practices,” Shimwandi advises. “This is how we learn, adapt, and improve gender integration across institutions.”
