AFI Places Gender Equality High on Agenda

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GBA participated in the Alliance for Financial Inclusion‘s 8th annual Global Policy Forum in Nadi, Fiji, Sept. 7-9, where in a historic moment, AFI members overwhelmingly adopted an action plan on gender and financial inclusion, passed with more than 96 percent of votes.

This was the largest ever GPF, with more than 500 senior financial inclusion policymakers, regulators, and leaders from international organizations and the private sector attending the event, “Building the Pillars of Sustainable Inclusion,” co-hosted by AFI member the Reserve Bank of Fiji.

Women’s financial inclusion was a major focus at this year’s GPF, which included a televised address by Melinda Gates, who mentioned the transformative benefits of including women in the world’s economies and the importance of disaggregating data by sex in closing the gender gap in financial access.

The GPF culminated in the adoption of the Denarau Action Plan: The AFI Network Commitment to Gender and Women’s Financial Inclusion. The 10-point plan will be overseen by the newly formed AFI Gender and Women’s Financial Inclusion Committee (GWFIC), which will work with key partners like the GBA and gender point people from AFI Working Groups. The plan represents the first time regulators and policymakers from across the world make a commitment to take concrete actions to close the gender gap in financial inclusion.

The AFI Maya Declaration was also at the forefront, with several of the organization’s members making new and revised commitments related to gender.

AFI’s more than 100 member institutions represent 90-plus nations, making the GPF the most important and comprehensive forum for regulatory institutions with an interest in the promotion of financial inclusion policy. The Forum focuses on the development and improvement of national financial inclusion strategies and policies, and is used as a platform for senior financial regulators to exchange ideas and engage in peer-to-peer learning.

For a brief recap of the events, take a look at this GPF Highlights video: