Gender justice

The impacts of climate change, fossil fuel extraction, rising debt and lack of energy access are felt most keenly by women and marginalised gender groups, especially those at the sharp edge of poverty. Recourse pushes international financial institutions to respond to these gendered impacts in their policies and practices, to achieve inclusive, sustainable and gender just development.

Our commitment to advancing gender equality

Recourse is committed to advancing gender equality within our organisation, through our management of human resources and internal culture, and in all of our programmatic work.

We collaborate with women leaders and people of diverse sexual orientations and gender identities in our research and advocacy work, to engage decision makers within international finance institutions on issues of gender-based discrimination and impacts. Our work is guided by the feminist analysis and wisdom of partners, including BRICS Feminist Watch, the MENA Fem movement and Gender Action, among others.

Gas does not equal development!

Public funding for fossil gas contributes to climate change and worsens gender inequality. Read more in our report, published with partners: Why public finance for fossil gas is not the solution for women in Asia and Africa.

Gender justice matters in development financing

International financial institutions have the opportunity to improve gender equality through their policies and practices. This could range from putting in place safeguards to protect women and marginalised gender groups in publicly-financed projects, to having a gender action plan or institution-wide gender policy.

However, the current lack of sensitivity to gender and identity means that public finance often reinforces discrimination and inequality. And while some multilateral development banks might ‘talk the talk’ about women’s rights or diversity, in practice their promises are often not met and are not enough to truly empower women or genuinely consider the rights of people of diverse sexual orientations and gender identities.

Alongside partners, Recourse works to put gender at the centre of international financial institutions’ policies and practices.

• We monitor and document the gendered impacts of publicly-financed projects, such as the IFC-funded gas power plant in Ghotki, Pakistan.
• We bring this evidence base directly to decision makers, and support gender activists and women leaders to engage in national and multilateral policy-making spaces.
• We have engaged with the World Bank Group on enhancing protections and inclusion of the LGBT community in the Bank’s operations, through special events and meetings.
• We influenced the AIIB’s process towards its first Gender Action Plan which was launched in September 2024. This included analysing the AIIB’s Paris Alignment methodology, energy sector portfolio and climate finance approach from a gender perspective, which gained recognition from the bank’s new gender specialist and shareholders.
• We called for a gender safeguard as part of the ADB’s new Environmental and Social Framework in 2024.

Browse below for news and resources related to Recourse’s work on gender justice, sexual orientation, identity and rights.