On 12 May, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation hosted a seminar on “Financing development with a feminist approach: counting women in”, organised by the Carolina Foundation, the State Secretary for International Cooperation and
UN-Women. The high-level meeting was held as part of preparations for the 4th International Conference on Financing for Development, scheduled to take place in Seville from 30 June to 3 July.
The State Secretary for International Cooperation, Eva Granados, opened the seminar, and underlined that “the Spanish Government is a feminist Government that places equality at the centre of all its political, domestic and foreign, action. Its effective promotion has a fundamental and strategic pillar in our international development cooperation policy, to contribute to more equitable, prosperous and sustainable societies. Therefore, at both the political and technical level, Spain is working to mainstream the gender perspective in all areas of the financing for development agenda: from the reform of the international financial architecture to the design of financial instruments and budgeting with a gender perspective”.
She was joined at the opening ceremony by Érika Rodríguez Pinzón, Director of the Carolina Foundation, who stated that “the purpose of financing for development with a feminist approach is to mitigate the existing gaps between men and women in access to resources and opportunities, as well as to transform the structures that perpetuate inequality. This is not just a technical or financial tool: it is a powerful strategy to transform realities". María-Noel Vaeza, Regional Director of
UN-Women for the Americas and the Caribbean, was also in attendance. She added that “resources allocated to financing for development must effectively promote a care society with gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls”.
During the event, various round tables addressed the main challenges and opportunities in building more inclusive and equitable financing systems, especially in relation to women's economic empowerment, the care economy and international cooperation. The occasion was attended by leading representatives of multilateral organisations such as the World Bank, the European Investment Bank (EIB), the OECD, the UNDP, ECLAC, CAF and the SEGIB, as well as cooperation agencies such as AECID and AGCID.