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UNDP-CAF Gender Equality Seal for Financial Institutions
A Strategic Transformation of the Financial System for Equality and Development
The Challenge
In Latin America and the Caribbean, millions of women continue to face barriers to accessing and using financial services on equal terms. These gaps limit their economic autonomy while also constraining the region’s potential for inclusive and sustainable growth.
The financial system plays a decisive role in closing these gaps. However, for decades it has operated under a logic of presumed gender neutrality that, in practice, has reproduced structural inequalities. Integrating a gender perspective is no longer simply a matter of equity: it is a strategic decision that improves efficiency, expands markets, and strengthens the sustainability of the financial sector.
The Response:
The Gender Equality Seal for Financial Institutions (SIG-IF)
The Gender Equality Seal for Financial Institutions (SIG-IF) emerges as a concrete and systemic response to this challenge. Its objective is to transform financial institutions from within, enabling them to integrate gender equality as a central component of their management, business, and development impact models.
More than a sustainability tool, the SIG-IF is a strategic management system that enables institutions to:
A Strategic UNDP-CAF Partnership
The SIG-IF is a joint initiative of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Development Bank of Latin America and the Caribbean (CAF). This partnership combines:
- UNDP’s global expertise in gender equality, sustainable development, and public policy.
- CAF’s financial knowledge, technical expertise, and catalytic role in the region’s development banking sector.
Together, both institutions are advancing a regional initiative aimed primarily at transforming public and development banking, recognizing its key role in setting market standards, channeling resources at scale, and mobilizing financing toward strategic sectors for equality and development.
How the SIG-IF Works
The Seal operates under a continuous improvement approach based on the Plan–Do–Check–Act (PDCA) cycle. This approach enables institutions to move from isolated actions toward structural and sustainable transformations within financial institutions.
The SIG-IF operates in an integrated manner across three strategic dimensions:
Participating Institutions and Regional Scope
To date, the SIG-IF has been implemented primarily with public financial institutions, including development banks, first- and second-tier banks, and public financing institutions, recognizing their capacity to influence the financial system as a whole.
The initiative has been developed through two technical cooperation agreements between UNDP and CAF:
- First phase (2024–2026): implementation in financial institutions in Bolivia, Argentina, and Mexico.
- Second phase (2026–2028): expansion to Uruguay, Ecuador, Paraguay, and Argentina.
This process has helped consolidate a regional network of financial institutions committed to gender equality, sharing lessons learned, good practices, and common standards.
Results and Strategic Value
Implementing the SIG-IF generates concrete results for financial institutions, as well as for women and society as a whole.
The SIG-IF demonstrates that closing gender gaps in the financial system is not only a matter of equity, but also a smart development strategy. Integrating gender equality improves the efficiency, sustainability, and impact of the financial system, while expanding opportunities for millions of women across the region.
The Seal invites financial institutions to play a leading role in this transformation, positioning gender equality as a strategic pillar of financial development in Latin America and the Caribbean.
