At the IsDB, we are focused on putting in place the next steps to help achieve gender parity in accordance with the tenants of Islam. As part of this, we have launched a number of high profile and competitive projects designed to promote women and women’s empowerment.

Women’s empowerment is a key pillar driving the IsDB’s vision as part of a long term strategic framework to ensure that all people are given the right to live in dignity and prosperity. IsDBs commitment to social and economic development via women’s empowerment has been recognized as a key tool to ensure targeted and inclusive growth with greater access to projects for Muslim women.

Most recently, the IsDB has adopted the Women’s Empowerment Policy. The goal of the policy is to contribute to sustainable and inclusive development in the Islamic Development Bank's member countries and Muslim communities in non-member countries by empowering women and girls to participate in and benefit from the development of their societies and communities. The policy aims at improving the effectiveness of IsDB’s development assistance so as to bring about greater socio-economic returns and deliver on its mandate.

The policy is the first of its kind for IsDB and defines the commitment of the Bank to promote women’s empowerment as a means to reduce poverty and foster sustainable development and inclusive growth.

The Policy was approved by the Board of Executive Directors (BED) in February 2019. Most importantly, the policy includes the following pillars, which all IsDB’s interventions will be aligned to:

Access: Improving access to resources and services

Mainstreaming: Mainstreaming women’s needs in operations

Agency: Promoting women’s agency and participation

Learning: Fostering a learning environment

(Note : AMAL in Arabic means Hope)

The link for the Policy is available in the following link : https://books.isdb.org/view/391591/