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1. Gender Integration in Multilateral Development Banks’ COVID-19 Response Efforts

Author:
Shelby Bourgault, Megan O'Donnell, and Mia Griffin
Publication Date:
05-2023
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Center for Global Development (CGD)
Abstract:
Research demonstrates that the COVID-19 pandemic has had differential effects by gender, with women experiencing higher job and income loss, increased rates of domestic violence, and mounting care burdens globally. While governments and civil society organizations were pivotal to mitigating the impacts of the pandemic, international institutions, and multilateral development banks (MDBs) in particular, also played a role in financing and informing the design and implementation of COVID-19 response programs. MDBs are institutions with significant financial resources and policy leverage, but relatively little is known about their impact on narrowing gender gaps in their partner countries, especially during the COVID-19 crisis. This paper examines the extent to which MDB COVID response projects incorporated gender elements. Using project data from the World Bank, African Development Bank, Asian Development Bank, and Inter-American Development Bank, this paper presents descriptive statistics on the presence of gender-related indicators and gender-dedicated projects across MDBs in projects focused on health, social protection, and other areas of COVID response and recovery. We analyze data across institutions, geographies, and project sectors—and highlight the main gaps in MDB response efforts.
Topic:
Development, COVID-19, Gender, Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs), and Gender Integration
Political Geography:
Global Focus

2. A Review of Multilateral Development Banks’ Investments in Childcare

Author:
Megan O'Donnell, Kelsey Ross, and Shelby Bourgault
Publication Date:
08-2021
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center for Global Development (CGD)
Abstract:
The COVID-19 pandemic has led to an unprecedented increase in unpaid care work all over the world, causing women to leave the workforce, reversing decades of progress on gender equality, and resulting in increased focus and empathy around the global childcare crisis. Recognizing a gap in the evidence regarding multilateral development banks’ current (and historical) investments in childcare solutions, in this paper we seek to establish a baseline, exploring the extent to which MDBs have invested in childcare over time, across geographies, and through various sectors and activities. Using project data from eight multilateral development banks’ project databases, we compiled all projects with a childcare component from 2000 to June 2021. Our analysis explores best practices across institutions, identifies gaps and areas for improvement, and makes recommendations for how MDBs can increase and improve investments in childcare.
Topic:
Development, Multilateralism, Banks, Pandemic, COVID-19, and Childcare
Political Geography:
Global Focus

3. From Principles to Practice: Strengthening Accountability for Gender Equality in International Development

Author:
Megan O'Donnell
Publication Date:
01-2020
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Center for Global Development (CGD)
Abstract:
Existing accountability mechanisms focused on global gender equality are largely retrospective in nature. Where mechanisms do probe at governments’ commitments to future progress, they often lack accompanying incentive structures (“carrots and sticks”) to encourage ambition. Countries re- port their progress implementing the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and the Beijing Platform for Action, participate in annual Commission on the Status of Women sessions, and touch on gender equality as part of voluntary national review reporting for the Sustainable Development Goals. Although these processes, among others, provide an opportu- nity for country reflection and for civil society engagement, they do not mandate that governments establish and adhere to forward-looking, specific commitments detailing how they aim to promote gender equality. The absence of future commitments makes it difficult for civil society actors to hold governments to account according to well-defined metrics. At the same time, governments and women’s rights advo- cates worldwide are increasingly discussing and adopting “feminist foreign policies” and “gender-re- sponsive budgeting.” There is a need to clearly define with robust and transparent metrics what these terms mean and how to hold countries who claim to be “feminist” and “gender-responsive” account- able for ambitious progress, while also encouraging other countries to increasingly prioritize gender equality.
Topic:
Development, Gender Issues, Inequality, Feminism, and Equality
Political Geography:
Global Focus