Yuriko Backes, the minister of finance, announced the launch of the Luxembourg Gender Finance Task Force which aims to support, drive and stimulate gender finance in Luxembourg’s financial centre.
After launching the Luxembourg Women in Finance Charter in March, it was time to follow up with a Gender Finance Task Force, highlighting the growing importance of gender finance both nationally and globally.
Mandated to identify key opportunities within the domain of gender finance and develop a sector-wide strategy, the task force will specifically focus on both “finance for women” and “women in finance”. It is composed of a diverse group of representatives from the financial sector and is chaired by Head of sustainable finance at the Ministry of Finance Jennifer de Nijs.
“Empowering women is not just a personal or political pursuit, it is a core element for economic growth and sustainable development. With this task force, Luxembourg reaffirms its commitment to leveraging the financial sector for positive impacts in the world,” said Minister Backes.
With more than 60,000 women and men employed in the financial sector and related services, the financial industry is one of the largest employers in the country and therefore plays a critical role in raising awareness about gender diversity across the country. While Luxembourg’s gender pay gap is among the lowest in the EU, it ranked lowest in Europe in the share of female executives.
To push back against gender discrimination in finance, the task force aims to identify opportunities that can be undertaken individually by actors in the Luxembourg financial center or through collaborations between public and private actors. Furthermore, it will focus on creating actions and impact, fostering innovation, and partnering with institutions in gender finance.
Having already demonstrated leadership in sustainable finance, the new gender finance task force is an opportunity for Luxembourg’s efforts to support forward-thinking policies and embrace the benefits of gender finance .
