Previously published on IE School of Global and Public Affairs.

IE University and UN Women raise awareness about the importance of innovative financing and women’s empowerment.
In Latin America and Europe, there is still a gender unequal representation of women in the financial environment, which is causing significant losses in wealth globally. Investing in women leads to stronger economic growth, as it was concluded this Thursday at a virtual conference organized by IE School of Global & Public Affairs and UN Women.
“Investing in women sets a direct path towards gender equality, towards poverty eradication and towards inclusive economic growth that we need after this pandemic,” said Maria Noel Vaeza, UN Women Regional Director for the Americas and the Caribbean, at the beginning of the second seminar on innovative financing and women’s empowerment hosted by IE School of Global & Public Affairs and UN Women.
“Women have transformative power and need access to large amounts of capital to develop their full potential. That is why we firmly believe that investing in women is not only a fundamental ethical imperative, but also an excellent business,” Vaeza added, opening the conference with Dean of IE School of Global and Public Affairs, Susana Malcorra, Assistant Director-General and Regional Director for Latin America and the Caribbean Caribbean at International Labour Organization (ILO), Vinícius Pinheiro, and the Head of the Foreign Policy Instruments Service of the European Commission, Hilde Hardeman.
“There are many signs that show that a region like Europe, that is advanced in implementing policies that empower women in many areas, still has a way to go.”
Susana Malcorra, Dean of IE School of Global and Public Affairs
The figures both in Latin America and the Caribbean and in Europe are not encouraging. “There are many signs that show that a region like Europe, that is advanced in implementing policies that empower women in many areas, still has a way to go,” highlighted Susana Malcorra. “From our perspective, it will make a huge difference to think about the economic aspect of women empowerment.”
The European Institute of Gender Equality (EIGE) estimates that implementing gender equality standards into the European economy could increase GDP per capita up to 10%, and according to a report by IE University, in Europe, over 90% of capital raised by tech companies backed by European Venture Capital (VC) went to teams that did not have a single female founder.
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