News

Central American Bank for Economic Integration Adopts Gender Equality Mainstreaming Policy

Date: 20 November 2010

In partnership with UNIFEM (part of UN Women) and the Counsel of Female Ministers of Central America (COMMCA), the Central American Bank for Economic Integration (CABEI) has incorporated gender equality mainstreaming into its strategic lines.

The Bank’s policy was established with technical assistance from UNIFEM’s Regional Women and Local Economic and Development programme (MYDEL) and adopted on 20 November through a formal meeting in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, positioning it as the first institution from the Central America Integration System (SICA) to adopt such a strategy.

The move is an important step in the pursuit to achieve the Millennium Development Goals by 2015 — a set of eight goals adopted by the international community in 2000 to improve the social and economic conditions of the world’s poorest countries. Gender equality is a key element to development and in achieving these goals.

A leader in financing development in Central America, CABEI will increase the effectiveness of its programs and projects across the region by addressing inequality and differences among countries in its national strategy. As part of its collaboration with UNIFEM’s MYDEL programme and COMMCA, the Bank will also propose consistent and systematic approaches to its financial and non-financial activities to promote gender mainstreaming.