As the 70th Session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW70) convened at the United Nations Headquarters in New York, the air was thick with a sense of urgency that transcended mere rhetoric. Amidst the sprawling hallways of international diplomacy, a pivotal gathering—the G77 and Emerging Partners Ministerial Roundtable—sought to address one of the most stubborn obstacles to global progress: the systemic exclusion of women from the world’s financial architecture. This high-level dialogue, held on March 9, 2026, brought together a formidable coalition of ministers, policymakers, and financial experts to chart a course toward gender-responsive sustainable finance. The objective was clear: to move beyond incremental change and toward a fundamental redesign of how capital is mobilized and deployed for the benefit of women and girls everywhere.
Opening the proceedings with a stark reminder of the stakes involved, Ms. Kirsi Madi, Deputy Executive Director of UN Women, framed gender equality not just as a moral imperative, but as a massive, untapped economic engine. She pointed specifically to the intersection of technology and finance as a primary frontier for growth. “Closing the gender digital gap could unlock as much as US$1.5 trillion in global GDP and it could lift 30 million women out of poverty,” Madi told the assembled leaders. Her message was a challenge to the status quo: “Our challenge goes beyond identifying resources; it is instead about financial architecture itself. The architect needs to place gender equality at its heart.” This call to action set the tone for the day, emphasizing that the current global financial systems are not merely underfunded, but structurally flawed in their ability to serve half the world’s population.
The roundtable served as a significant milestone, building upon the foundations laid during the previous year’s session at CSW69. This year’s event was a collaborative effort, co-hosted by the governments of Brazil, Kazakhstan, Maldives, Timor-Leste, and Uruguay, in partnership with UN Women. This diverse coalition of nations reflects a growing consensus within the Global South that sustainable development is impossible without a gender-responsive approach to financing. By focusing on practical, system-level pathways, the roundtable aimed to operationalize global commitments through UN Women’s Sustainable Finance Programme, which has become a central hub for convening partners and shaping the international agenda on inclusive financial systems.
The first major segment of the event, a Ministerial Leadership Dialogue titled “Political Commitments to Action: Advancing Gender-Responsive Sustainable Finance,” provided a platform for national leaders to share their strategies for translating high-level promises into tangible results. Moderated by Ms. Megan Gilgan, Director a.i. of the Strategic Partnerships Division at UN Women, the panel highlighted that while global frameworks provide the roadmap, the actual journey is paved through national legislation and innovative partnerships. H.E. Ms. Elvina Sousa Carvalho, State Secretary for Equality of Timor-Leste, spoke passionately about the need to break out of traditional silos. “Accelerating sustainable financing requires innovative financing mechanisms, in partnership with private sector and civil society, to advance the inclusive economic empowerment of women,” she noted, signaling that governments cannot go it alone.
The conversation then shifted to the legal and constitutional foundations required to sustain these efforts. Representing Brazil, H.E. Ms. Márcia Lopes, Minister of Women, emphasized that gender equality policies are only as strong as the budgets that back them. “There is no public policy without appropriate funding, as required by the Brazilian Constitution,” she asserted. This legalistic approach ensures that gender-responsive budgeting is not subject to the whims of changing political tides but is instead a permanent fixture of the state’s responsibilities. Similarly, the representative from Kazakhstan, H.E. Ms. Elvira Azimova, Chairperson of the Constitutional Court, reaffirmed her country’s dedication to the international legal framework. She expressed Kazakhstan’s “readiness to continue active cooperation with all Member States, United Nations system entities, and international partners to advance this crucial global agenda,” highlighting the role of judicial and constitutional bodies in upholding women’s economic rights.
Uruguay, serving as the G77 Chair for the year, provided a poignant perspective on the nature of political will. Ms. Noelia Martinez, Deputy Director General of Political Affairs for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, argued that the lack of funding for women is not an economic inevitability but a deliberate decision. “Gender equality is a matter of power but also a choice,” Martinez stated. “Financing for gender equality isn’t a challenge today but is a choice as well.” Her words resonated through the chamber, framing the financial gap as a byproduct of historical power imbalances that leaders now have the agency to rectify.
The second panel, “Strengthening Financial Systems for Gender Equality: From Policy Frameworks to Instruments at Scale,” delived into the technical and institutional mechanisms necessary to move capital at the required magnitude. Moderated by Ms. Robyn Oates, Head of Sustainable Finance at UN Women, the discussion featured voices from philanthropy, the private sector, and national governments, including the Ford Foundation, Pro Mujer, and the Government of Rwanda. A highlight of this session was the presentation of specific national initiatives that are already yielding results. H.E. Mr. Ali Naseer Mohamed, Permanent Representative of the Maldives to the United Nations, detailed a successful government program designed to catalyze female entrepreneurship. “In 2024, the Maldives Government launched an initiative allocating US$ 6.47 million for start-up loans to women entrepreneurs, with 25% earmarked for women with disabilities,” he explained. He further noted that over 16% of these funds had already been disbursed over the last two years, providing a concrete example of how targeted state intervention can lower the barriers to entry for women in business.
The role of innovative financial instruments, such as gender bonds, was also a major point of discussion. Ms. Carmen Correa of Pro Mujer shared her organization’s experience as a pioneer in the Latin American market. “Financial innovation is very powerful, but it cannot work on its own,” Correa cautioned. She highlighted that Pro Mujer had successfully issued two gender bonds, becoming the first non-traditional issuer of such instruments in the region. These bonds allow investors to direct capital specifically toward projects that support women’s health, education, and entrepreneurship, creating a bridge between the global capital markets and the grassroots needs of women in developing economies.
However, the roundtable did not shy away from the deeper, more systemic barriers that continue to hinder progress. Mr. Roy Swan of the Ford Foundation delivered a compelling analysis of why investment flows still fail to reach women despite overwhelming evidence of their economic viability. “Volumes of research document the power of capital in women’s hands,” Swan said. “For example, studies show that women-led startups consistently outperform on capital efficiency, delivering a significantly higher revenue return per dollar of funding than male-led startups.” Despite this data, he pointed out that women receive only a fraction of total global venture capital. “So, what does this mean? It means it’s not just the data. The higher hurdles are the psychology and ‘-isms’. This is an important reality that we must confront head-on.” Swan’s intervention underscored that changing the financial system requires more than just new tools; it requires a cultural shift among investors who often operate on unconscious biases rather than hard economic facts.
As the roundtable concluded, the consensus was clear: the path to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030 runs directly through the empowerment of women via the financial system. UN Women’s ongoing commitment to advancing gender-responsive sustainable finance is aimed at ensuring that equality is not an afterthought of the global economy, but its central pillar. By strengthening standards, mobilizing large-scale capital, and fostering innovation in financial instruments, the global community is working to ensure that the resources required for gender equality are mobilized with the speed and scale that the current global situation demands.
The G77 and Emerging Partners Ministerial Roundtable at CSW70 served as more than just a meeting; it was a manifestation of a global movement to reclaim the financial narrative. For the delegates leaving the UN Headquarters, the mission ahead is to take these high-level dialogues back to their respective capitals and financial centers, turning the “choice” of equality into a reality for millions of women and girls worldwide. The session, which continues through March 19, remains the UN’s largest annual gathering dedicated to women’s rights, serving as a reminder that while the challenges are systemic, the solutions are within reach if the global community chooses to invest in them.
