Leveraging digital finance for gender equality and women’s empowerment

For women and girls, the digital revolution represents one of the biggest opportunities and threats to gender equality. In recognition of this critical dichotomy, the UN Secretary-General’s Task Force on Digital Financing of the Sustainable Development Goals has selected gender as one of the main themes of its work. UN Women and its Executive Director, who is one of the 16 members of the Task Force, is committed to supporting the Task Force to further explore the different impacts of the existing digital financial ecosystem through a gender lens

This working paper is based on initial discussions with and between Task Force members, technical experts, practitioners, innovators, and other stakeholders, as well as on a review of available literature. The paper provides a basis to review the barriers, risks, and opportunities related to gender and the accessibility and utilization of digital finance, and to help identify pathways that could be leveraged for potential impactful investment returns for women.