Through the Gender Lens

Corporate foundations and philanthropic individuals can give more effectively by integrating diversity

- Natalie Au

 

Research has demonstrated that women and girls are often disproportionately affected by many of the critical challenges facing our world today, while at the same time holding significant roles in creating solutions that are community-centred, innovative and impactful. But the landscape of funding that goes towards social and environmental change does not currently reflect this: according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), in 2019 and 2020, only 45 per cent of governmental development aid considered gender as a factor, and only five per cent of that aid funded programmes with gender equality as the “principal objective”.

The UN Women Women’s Empowerment Principles (WEPs) offer a guide to empowering women in the workplace, marketplace and community, serving as a pathway for corporate social responsibility (CSR) programmes to be more intentional in using a gender lens to advance the effectiveness of their philanthropy.