TEST: Celebrating the 2024 International Women’s Day theme: Invest in Women, Accelerate Progress

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Subject: TEST: Celebrating the 2024 International Women’s Day theme: Invest in Women, Accelerate Progress

2X Global: Unlocking gender-smart capital at scale

Dear Friend,

As International Women’s Day approaches, the UN Women theme for 2024, ‘Invest In Women, Accelerate Progress’, resonates deeply for us at 2X Global.

It is very on point for our team and our network of members who are striving every day to mobilise more investment in women and to accelerate progress. Over the coming weeks, you can find us and our members in a range of spaces, advocating for and advancing the agenda for women’s economic empowerment.

Some activities are signal events, meant to spotlight the issues and opportunities in the field of gender lens investing.

To that end, we will be co-hosting a panel discussion together with EQT and the World Economic Forum on March 8^th in London. Our Board Chair Sukhvir Basran will be a part of this discussion on gender equity in investor industries, exploring the experiences, challenges, and successes of some of London’s top female investment talent.

Just after International Women’s Day, we will be at the United Nations’ 68^th session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW 68) in New York City for a big announcement. Together with USAID, Amazon, Visa Foundation Reckitt and the UPS Foundation, we will be revealing the next set of grantees under the Climate Gender Equity Fund (CGEF).

These grants, for women-led climate- and gender-smart emerging impact investment funds (and investment vehicles), will be supporting investment funds and vehicles aligned with the 2X Criteria and that advance climate solutions and increase gender equality.

In other 2X Global news, we have opened the call for applications for the second edition of our 2X Ignite Africa GP Sprint. Our GP Sprint is a 6-month acceleration programme focused on supporting women-led or gender-diverse fund managers with gender-smart investing strategies.

This second Africa cohort, which is supported by MEDA (Mennonite Economic Development Associates), will be for between seven to 10 fund managers, with a preference for those based in and investing in Sub-Saharan Africa.

More details can be found at our 2X Ignite website.

Applications are also still open for regional research leads for an innovative applied research project at the intersection of gender, climate and the clean energy transition. The project, Improving outcomes for women-led clean energy enterprises through applied research, which we’re initiating together with ANDE, is made possible through generous support from Canada’s International Development Research Centre.

The deadline has been extended until March 10^th, 2024. Read our call for proposals for more.

Read on for a selection of GLI news.

In Community,

2X Global team

Learn about joining the 2X Global community

If you are interested in the work of 2X Global, you can get to know us a bit better as we will be hosting virtual familiarisation sessions in March and April. Join us to learn more about how you can join our community and shape the future of finance together! Register at the links below for the time zone that works best for you.

14 March Time zone A, 9.30 am - 10.30 am CET

14 March Time zone B, 5 pm - 6 pm CET

8 April Time zone A 10 am - 11 am CET

10 April Time zone B 6 pm - 7 pm CET

News from the field

Mainstreaming gender lens investing. This blog post from our 2X Ignite Asia-Pacific GP Sprint supporter United Nations ESCAP examines the state of gender lens investing in Asia, augmented with some insights gleaned from participants of our recent in-person 2X Ignite GP Sprint in Singapore. Tracing the journey of an SME investment in Chile, in this latest impact story from Advance Global Capital. A new report from UN Women highlights the benefits of gender lens investing, and examines different GLI models and opportunities. Some great insights into the impact of social and green bonds in IFC’s new Green and Social Bond Impact Report, which details projects in emerging markets that have been funded through their green and social bonds.

Gender and Climate Investing. Bringing together women leaders to combat climate change - that is the goal of the Women Climate Leaders Network, recently launched by the European Investment Bank and the European Investment Fund. The grouping aims to promote visibility for and thought leadership on issues at the intersection of climate and gender. The climate crisis is far from gender neutral, says World Meteorological Organisation Secretary-General Celeste Saulo in an urgent call to action at the launch of the International Gender Champions Climate Impact Group. How is Egypt advancing gender-responsive climate finance? This blog post from Wilson Centre youth fellow Eslam Hassanein delves into what is being done and what more needs to be done.

Leadership, Culture and Policy. Africa50’s Infrastructure Acceleration Fund recently reached a first close of $222.5 million, securing participation from 16 African institutional investors, including sovereign wealth funds, pension funds, social security funds, insurance companies, banks and DFIs. 2023 was a record year for investments by European-based DFIs - €9.5 billion in combined capital commitments last year to private sector clients in emerging and developing economies. One of Australia’s oldest and largest companies Woolworth’s appoints its first ever woman CEO at a turbulent time for the company. Good news from Spain’s largest bank, Banco Santander which announced it has eliminated the gender pay gap for employees globally who do the same job ahead of target. The less good news is that its overall pay gap remains close to 30%. You’re not imagining it, women CEOs at Fortune 500 companies really do have shorter tenures than men CEOs, says Fortune Magazine.

Data and Tools. Last year, Responsible Investor launched its inaugural Women in Finance Survey ahead of International Women's Day. This year's survey is still open for responses. Credit analysts and financial managers are among the top 20 jobs with the widest gender pay gap, according to Payscale’s 2024 Gender Pay Report.

Resilience (GBV, Financial Inclusion, Health, Security).

US First Lady Dr Jill Biden announces US$100 million in public funding to boost research into women's health. On any given day, roughly 800 million women and girls around the world are menstruating. Far too many are hampered by a lack of access to period products. This article spotlights the costs in stifled economic potential, but also the economic opportunities.

Care Economy. In another step towards giving caregiving the recognition it deserves, the United Nations approved a resolution recognising and promoting the care economy. The text was introduced by the representative from Chile who highlighted the invisible and undervalued nature of unpaid caregiving. The latest edition of Sweef Capital's Gender ROI Insight series, co-authored by our Director of Strategy at 2X Global, looks at how we can quantify the economic value women bring through care-related activities. Efforts to develop a new National Carers Strategy in the United Kingdom are getting a boost from a cross-party group of MPs and peers who have launched a national survey of carers and carer organisations, to feed into such a strategy, which would be the first since 2008.

JEDI, Power, and New Economic Systems. The current anti-DEI backlash isn't cowing JP Morgan, says CEO Jamie Dimon. Despite the headlines, the Great DEI retreat is overblown, says W.K Kellogg Foundation CEO La June Montgomery Tabron. She points to the findings of their recent Retrospective Report to back her point. Meanwhile, advisory firm Adasina Social Capital is spearheading a fight back, with a recently launched initiative to provide legal support for impact investors targeted in the current wave of ESG and DEI attacks. Take a look at Oxfam’s inclusive language guide which is an evergreen and useful resource. College debt, disproportionate familial financial responsibilities and more are among the barriers that hamper Black American women from building generational wealth, according to a new study from Goldman Sachs’ One Million Black Women initiative. Delve into the European Securities Market Authority’s just-published 2024-2027 DEI Strategy.

Community Calendar

7 March, 2024

The Criterion Institute is hosting its training in Systems Change. Learn more and register here.

11-22 March, 2024

The 68th Session of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW 68) in New York City.

20-21 March, 2024

The 2024 Impact Investment Summit Asia Pacific will be exploring inclusion, systems change and more at its convening in Sydney, Australia. Learn more about it.

25-27 March, 2024

The Change NOW 2024 summit will bring together climate financiers, climate activists, policy makers and more for a summit focused on finding solutions for the planet. More information.

26-27 March, 2024

The 10th edition of Impact Summit Europe, the continent’s leading impact investing conference for institutional investors, will be in Amsterdam. Click here for more information and to register.

Thank you to our partners and supporters

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Subject: TEST: Celebrating the 2024 International Women’s Day theme: Invest in Women, Accelerate Progress