Starting Q2 with positive energy and progress

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Subject: Starting Q2 with positive energy and progress

2X Global: Unlocking gender-smart capital at scale

Dear Friend,

We hope that your Q2 of 2024 started with positive energy and progress towards goals that light you up from within.

That has certainly been the case for us at 2X Global during April, as our team and membership have pushed forward on exciting flagship projects and initiatives - and we’re not done yet!

Ahead of today’s newsletter hitting your inbox, some of you may have watched the first episode of our brand new LinkedIn Live limited series - ‘Insights from Japan: Opportunities and Lessons Learnt in Responsible Investment’.

If you haven’t had the chance to watch this engaging digital dialogue, you can look for it and rewatch on our LinkedIn page.

Tomorrow, April 30 we will be streaming live again, this time for the digital launch of the Project Catalyst report which we are publishing jointly with Sagana. This signal study has captured critical data about the size and scope of the current market for gender lens investing in private markets. Tune in tomorrow for important insights about the growth, trends and direction of the GLI landscape. We are grateful to the Visa Foundation for their steadfast support of this critical research initiative.

Rewinding a bit to last week, another important milestone came on Earth Day with the launch of the call for proposals for the second round of grant funding under the Climate Gender Equity Fund (CGEF). CGEF is a public-private partnership led by USAID with founding members Amazon, Reckitt, The UPS Foundation and Visa Foundation to increase access to climate finance for gender-responsive, women-led and women-benefiting organisations. Grant-making under CGEF is managed by 2X Global.

The deadline for applications is May 17, 2024.

Last week, we also had the privilege of being privy to brilliant, powerful and vulnerable conversations among senior women in finance, when, together with PEWIN, we co-hosted Convene 2024 at the AVCA annual conference for over 100 senior women in finance.

And in the week before that, we hosted a powerful convening of a different sort when our 2X Challenge working group met in person in The Hague, Netherlands, hosted by FMO. They came together to chart the course for the upcoming 2X Challenge which will be launched shortly at the G7 Summit in Italy. The third edition of the Challenge will be an even bigger leap forward in our efforts to mobilise gender lens investments as it will be the most ambitious and inclusive in scope and hence, the most impactful one thus far. To learn more about the 2X Challenge and if you want to join this bold capital commitment, you can reach out to our 2X Challenge Lead Jo McDonnell.

Read on for a selection of GLI news and insights.

In Community,

2X Global team

News from the field

Mainstreaming gender lens investing. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the European Investment Bank (EIB) launched a new partnership to strengthen women’s economic power in Kenya by tackling key barriers to financial inclusion. Check out Melinda French Gates’ thoughtful foreword on an associated paper that addresses the need to expand access to affordable credit for women entrepreneurs in the Global South. Criterion Institute has published its Standards of Practice on translation, outlining ways investors can shift how gender expertise is valued within certain financial processes, structures, and analyses. Go bold, go brave and go where other private investors are reluctant to go, urges Swedfund CEO Maria Håkansson, in an interview with Jeune Afrique as she announces they are increasing investments in West Africa. Luxembourg Minister of Finance Gilles Roth announces the ministry’s 10 point plan for sustainable finance which will guide Ministry’s efforts over the next five years and see it expanding beyond green finance to include critical considerations such as social equity, gender, and biodiversity. A worthwhile read from FinDev Gateway on how deficit-focused narratives diminish and disempower people on the receiving end of aid.

Gender and Climate Investing. If you have eight minutes, listen to this podcast where Randall Kempner (Aspen Institute) concisely explains the reasons as to why philanthropy is struggling to support climate, but why these dollars are so important when considered alongside private and governmental funding. This case study by JICA outlines efforts to protect and conserve an inhabited forest. EIB’s gender specialist Moa Westman outlines how diversity fosters resilience and sustainability in the face of a changing climate. Insights and research sparked by a recent International Women’s Day roundtable focused on the challenges that diverse groups of women around the world face in accessing and leading in the green and blue economies, and to hear their priorities. How do you embed a gender lens into climate innovation? This paper from EIT Climate KIC outlines five actions to tackle gender inequality in climate entrepreneurship. The challenges the climate faces require going beyond the traditional framing of green finance to client-centric strategies that emphasis resilience- this paper in FinDev Gateway outlines solutions.

Leadership, Culture and Policy. Meet the 2024 cohort of Cartier Women's Initiative fellows - women impact investors shaping the world for the better. The European Investment Bank has published its 2024 Gender overview showing how it integrates a gender lens across its work and investments. In disappointing news, the share of women in C-suite roles has fallen for the first in decades. Tackling the digital divide for sustainable development is top of the agenda coming out of the 80th session of UNESCAP with special emphasis on creating greater access for the most vulnerable and disadvantaged. Deloitte’s new Women @ Work report is out, with a focus on how women’s lived experiences outside of the workplace impact their experience within it.

Data and Tools. Equileap’s 2024 Gender Equality Ranking is out, assessing 4000 companies in developed markets for their gender equity. The World Bank is developing a new corporate scorecard for all WBG financing institutions which will measure results through lives impacted, rather than money out of the door. A brand new initiative, said to be the first of its kind in Asia - the Women Workplace Index, tracks female-friendly office policies in Asia. World Bank’s Africa Pulse, a biannual survey of African economies, finds hopeful signs - economic activity is set to rebound in sub-Saharan Africa, driven by increased consumption and declining inflation.

Resilience (GBV, Financial Inclusion, Security). The EU Parliament this week approved the first ever EU rules on combating violence against women with new detailed definitions on consent, prohibitions against forced marriage and female genital mutilation and laws on cyber violence including cyber flashing. The World Bank announces a new target for health care -a plan to support countries in delivering quality, affordable health services to 1.5 billion people by 2030. The IDB launches FINLAC, a new initiative to promote financial inclusion for the most vulnerable and excluded in LAtin America and the Caribbean. Women face more financial stress, less access to credit and pensions - a new policy paper from UNESCAP puts forward recommendations for policy makers to close the financial inclusion and resilience gender gap. How can rural women be better served and included in financial services? The FAO has a new technical guidance note out which provides recommendations specifically focused on the unique challenges facing rural women. Incoming CEO of EY, Janet Truncale penned this piece laying out three solutions to engender greater financial inclusion for women around the world.

Care Economy. The estimated 2.3 million workers in the United Kingdom with unpaid caring responsibilities have new employment rights as of April 6 when the new Carer’s Leave Act came into force. The double burden of care and household responsibilities falls disproportionately on women and is particularly acute in Asia - the Asia Foundation is proposing solutions to build resilient care ecosystems to address this. United States Vice-President Kamala Harris announces two landmark final rules to improve safety in caregiving and improve access to care and quality care economy jobs. What’s the connection between Early Childhood development and women’s economic empowerment? A lot more than you might think - this blog post from the Center for Global Development explains. A new policy brief from the UNDP looks at how we might bridge the gender gap through a sustainable care economy.

JEDI, Power, and New Economic Systems. The EU Parliament has voted to adopt a new piece of legislation - the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD), setting out mandatory obligations for companies to address the negative impacts on human rights and the environment. A collaborative new work is underway from Impact Frontiers which is working on a report on impact management practices to advance social equity.

Community Calendar

30 April, 2024

Join 2X Global, Sagana and the Visa Foundation as we launch the Project Catalyst report, sharing key data points, findings and recommendations. Watch online.

7-8 May, 2024

The UNESCAP Feminist Finance Forum will be held in Bangkok, Thailand under the theme ‘Driving Action for a Feminist Financial Ecosystem in Asia and the Pacific. Click here for more details.

22 May, 2024

The 3rd Ghana Impact Summit 2024 will provide a platform for the Ghanaian financing ecosystem to make significant progress on local ecosystem-building initiatives that can increase the supply of funds for impact and drive the attainment of the SDGs.

18 May, 2024

Breaking Barriers: Investing in Women Entrepreneurs hosted by the Clinton Global Initiative and presented by Domuschiev Impact, in Sofia, Bulgaria. Secretary Clinton and a range of experts including 2X Global CEO Jessica Espinoza, will spotlight how we can better unleash women’s full economic potential by increasing support for women entrepreneurs.

22-23 May, 2024

The Responsible Investor Japan invites opinion leaders from Japan and abroad to discover how urgent theoretical and practical issues can marry with the vision for a new era of capitalism in a sustainability-conscious world. RSVP here.

11-13 September, 2024

Looking ahead, we are hosting the next 2X Global Annual Member Meeting 2024 in Nairobi, Kenya. If you are interested in joining this event, please contact us by email to explore 2X membership opportunities.

Thank you to our partners and supporters

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Subject: Starting Q2 with positive energy and progress