The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) announced a strategic partnership with the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Women Initiative to support and promote women entrepreneurs in the region.
The announcement was made by IDB President Luis Alberto Moreno during the Vital Voices of the Americas: Women as a Bridge to a More Prosperous Future Summit being held in Buenos Aires, Argentina, October 5-8, 2008.
Moreno was joined by Melanie Verveer, chair and co-founder of Vital Voices Global Partnership, and Dina Powell, Managing Director and Global Head of the Office of Corporate Engagement at Goldman Sachs.
Vital Voices has been a big promoter of positive change for women all over the world. They have played an instrumental role in bringing together the IDB with other key players in Latin America and the Caribbean to help empower women in the region.
In March 2008, Goldman Sachs launched 10,000 Women, a global initiative that will provide 10,000 underserved women, predominantly in developing and emerging markets, with business and management education and improve the quality and capacity of business management education around the world.
Through this partnership, the IDB and the 10,000 Women Initiative will jointly commission a study with the aim to identify the problems facing women entrepreneurs, and suggest how to promote and support underserved women entrepreneurs through training and capacity building for economic empowerment. The IDB with its Multilateral Investment Fund and the partners in this initiative seek to positively impact women and girls in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Furthermore, the IDB is considering the creation of a Gender and Diversity Fund to strengthen countries' efforts to integrate gender and diversity issues in public policies and national programs, particularly those financed by the IDB. This fund would foster equal conditions and opportunities for women and men belonging to different ethnic and racial backgrounds, attack the root causes of discrimination and empower people to control their own social, economic and cultural development.
Through its Office of Outreach and Partnership (ORP), the IDB seeks to continue building strategic partnerships with member countries and other key players in the region to address issues of gender and diversity.
In addition to Canada, Japan, Norway, Republic of Korea and the United Kingdom who have already contributed to projects that address gender and diversity issues, several other IDB member countries have expressed an interest in building alliances in this field.
ORPs mission is to develop, expand and strengthen the IDB Group's relationships and strategic alliances with public and private sector partners of the development community, including foundations, corporations, individual philanthropists, multilateral and bilateral institutions, IDB donor countries, and other organizations.