Although women and girls in developing countries disproportionately experience the negative impacts of climate change, climate finance funds do not meaningfully integrate gender dimensions into their policies or programmes. This research report on gender in global finance mechanisms examines the integration of gender issues into the policies and investments of two climate funds and two non-climate funds, identifying practices that could ‘work for women’ in climate change financing. The report contains case studies of two climate funds: the Global Environment Facility and the Adaptation Fund, as well as two nonclimate funds: the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization, and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria. Their challenges and opportunities are explored, and their lessons for gender integration into global finance mechanisms are echoed in the recommendations.

At a minimum, climate fund gender policies require:

• A commitment to women’s human rights
• The collection, analysis and application of sex-disaggregated data
• Balanced participation of men and women in adaptation and mitigation efforts
• Gender balance in climate fund governance
• Measures to ensure full implementation of the gender policy through the development of an action plan or gender mainstreaming guidelines
• Measures to hold staff accountable for their performance on gender in annual performance reviews
• A robust communications and advocacy strategy that highlights the importance of gender mainstreaming and addresses resistance to it
• A comprehensive framework for building gender capacity within the climate fund.