The European Investment Bank (EIB) and the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) are pleased to host the 2022 Global Gender Summit of the Multilateral Development Banks (MDB) Working Group on Gender (WGG).

The Summit will take place from 16-19 May 2022 in Cairo, Egypt - in a hybrid format - under the patronage of the Egyptian Ministry of International Cooperation, the Egyptian Ministry of Planning and Economic Development, and Egypt’s National Council for Women.

As we move forward to recover from the social and economic disruptions experienced over the past two years, the 2022 Global Gender Summit will bring together sector leaders, experts, policy makers, development practitioners and other stakeholders to reflect on the theme “Building Back Better: Advancing Gender Equality for a More Resilient Future”.

Speakers include Her Excellency Dr. Hala El-Said (Egypt’s Minister of Planning and Economic Development), Her Excellency Dr. Rania A. Al-Mashat (Egypt’s Minister of International Cooperation), Dr. Maya Morsy (President of Egypt’s National Council for Women), Mr. Ambroise Fayolle (Vice President of the European Investment Bank), and Dr. Mansur Muhtar (Vice President Operations of the Islamic Development Bank).

Her Excellency Dr. Hala El-Said, Egypt’s Minister of Planning and Economic Development, said: “We are all witnessing the rapid economic, social, and environmental changes that the world is going through that impose more challenges and burdens, and negatively affect the efforts made by countries to empower women economic empowerment. Hence, the importance of intensifying attention to issues of women's empowerment in all fields comes within the framework of strengthening the pillars of achieving SDG 5: Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls Egypt was the first country in the world to issue a “Policy Paper on Rapid Response to the Situation of Women During the Outbreak of Covid-19” to follow up on the effects of the pandemic on women and girls, and to develop a gender-sensitive response. This paper focused on several pillars: the most important of which is the emphasis on the necessity of integrating women into decision-making during the crisis management process to improve health security monitoring mechanisms, health detection and prevention, and launching initiatives that support women’s economic participation, where support has been provided to informal workers, including women through bonuses and an advantage card 40% of the beneficiaries were women.”

Her Excellency Dr. Rania A. Al-Mashat, Egypt’s Minister of International Cooperation, said: “The last few decades have witnessed substantial improvements on the gender equality front. Today, we capitalize on this momentum by pushing gender equality not merely as a thematic issue, but by transforming the system from the inside out, to embody inclusive, actionable and informed policies guided by women’s realities. Evidence has shown that women’s economic role is “macro-critical”, with estimates that closing the gender employment gap could increase GDP by an average of 35%, emphasising that the participation of women in the labor force is an imperative investment in a sustainable, green transition. In light of Egypt hosting COP27 this year, amplifying the voices of women and girls, as agents of change, at the heart of the climate agenda, is thus an integral ingredient for sustainable development.”

Dr. Maya Morsi, President of the National Council for Women, said: "It is my great pleasure to organize this Summit in close cooperation with our partners. It will highlight important issues on the local, regional and global level. This comes in light of the repercussions of global crises that have caused the deterioration of economic conditions worldwide and greatly affected the status of women and their participation in the labor market, which puts us in front of a great challenge to work on integrating women into the labor market and overcoming the obstacles they face, in addition to the dilemma of climate change and its repercussions on different countries of the world, and the role of women in confronting them. The Summit will address issues in line with the objectives of the National Strategy for the Empowerment of Egyptian Women 2030, launched by H.E. President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi in 2017, stemming from Egypt's 2030 vision of sustainable development goals”. She added: "Egyptian women currently live their golden age in the light of the attention and appreciation they receive from all organs of the State. Political leadership is particularly supporting the empowerment of women in all fields, believing in their role and status as active and essential partners in Egypt's direction towards achieving the goals of sustainable development and building a society based on equality and social justice for all."

EIB Vice-President Ambroise Fayolle, said: “Today’s climate and development challenges require more than ever the involvement of all to ensure an inclusive and green transition. This means a greater participation of women in every sector of the economy, including in crucial leadership positions. With gender equality being at the heart of EIB’s mission, we are proud to chair the MDB Working Group on Gender and to host the MDB Gender Summit under the auspices of the Egyptian Government. This summit, designed with our fellow Multilateral Development Banks, will share concrete solutions to build a sustainable and gender-resilient future that will feed into the Finance in Common Summit and COP27 discussions.”

IsDB Vice President, Dr. Mansur Muhtar, said: "At this critical juncture of human history, and as we aim to build back better as well as create a future we all want, inclusive recovery is indispensable. This requires a new way of thinking and a renewed commitment to respond to the complex social and economic dynamics in a bid to build a more inclusive, resilient future. Among the most profound revelations are the sharp gender-based disparities which persist, making women vulnerable in the home, in the labour market and on the planet. For these reasons we are delighted to co-host the 2022 MDBs Global Gender Summit, along with the European Investment Bank, to deepen our collective understanding of key topics that are impacting women and present solutions to give women greater self-determination as well as promote their full participation and leadership in the context of employment, climate change, and digitalization. We are grateful to the Egyptian Government for hosting this important event and highly value the collective efforts of our fellow Multilateral Development Banks and partners, without which this event would not have been possible".

Supported by a group of 11 Multilateral Development Banks[1], the Summit aims to serve as a platform to facilitate exchange of experiences, ideas and good practices in order to meet current challenges affecting the gender equality agenda globally.

The three-day Summit will focus on three gender topics: employment and the care economy; climate change; and digitalization. This will also pave the way towards the UN Climate Change Conference 2022 (COP 27) hosted by the Egyptian Government later this year. 

See full program here

To attend the summit, please register on the event page. The summit will be web streamed here.