Global Gender Summit 2019 paves the way to immediately close gender gap

The 2019 Global Gender Summit, the first to be held on the continent, kicked off on Monday, November 25 with a strong call to surge ahead on gender issues and move from commitment to action.

The African Development Bank has organized the next Global Gender Summit 2019 in association with the Republic of Rwanda. "We believe that Global Gender Summit 2019 will be an opportunity to share best practices from all participants so that we accelerate progress on gender equality and women's empowerment in Africa and around the world," said Rwanda's Minister of Gender and Family Promotion, Soline Nyirahabimana.

Africa's only female President, Sahle-Work Zewde of Ethiopia, said Ethiopia's parliament is one of the only two on the continent with over 50% gender parity in seats, and women currently hold key ministerial roles in defense and national security for the first time. Despite her own country's huge advances, however, the work has just started, she said. She was speaking during the opening plenary of the Global Gender Summit, a biennial event organized by the multilateral development banks (MDBs), bringing together leaders from government, development institutions, private sector, civil society, and academia.

"There is good momentum for women and African women, but the work has just started…'There is no template to follow…we (women) can deliver, but we can deliver differently," President Sahle-Work Zewde said.

The African Development Bank is doing its part to transform the financing landscape for women with the launch of the Affirmative Finance Action for Women in Africa (AFAWA). AFAWA intends to mobilize USD 3 billion of new lending by banks and financial institutions for women in Africa. G7 leaders approved a package totalling USD 251 million in support of AFAWA during the summit in August.