Section 3 - Communication and advocacy
Our toolkit navigator includes the following guiding symbols to guide audiences in prioritizing resources
ToolKit Navigator
⧫ Beginner: Entry-level tools and step-by-step guides for investors and financial institutions to get started on their gender mainstreaming journeys.
⧫⧫ Intermediate: Intermediate-level tools, strategies, guidelines, and manuals for investors and financial institutions already working with impact-investing frameworks and with a solid understanding of the concepts of gender, diversity, equity, and inclusion.
⧫⧫⧫ Advanced: Advanced-level intersectional frameworks and analytical gender lenses for investors and financial institutions with established GDE&I practices and a strong conceptual understanding of applying a gender lens across institutional activities.
☆Must read
*** Key resource for diversifying the gender perspective
Does your institution promote, communicate or otherwise make visible its commitment and best practices in terms of gender equality and inclusion?
Choose your answer
Interested in making your business more inclusive for staff and increasing the institutional accessibility for clients? A communication and advocacy strategy that is sensitive to diversity, equity and inclusion can lead to gender equality, as well as diminishing harmful gender stereotypes. In addition, it can change the work-environment and affirm the full participation of under-represented groups in institutional decision-making.
Are you a financial institution not yet convinced on why gender-based frameworks are needed? Read through the Inter-American Development Bank’s Evaluation of the Bank’s Support for Gender and Diversity to see what others are doing. An overview of the good practices can be found here.
⧫⧫ Intermediate, English
It is always a good opportunity to continue learning from best practices and experiences in the financial ecosystem. This Section 3 will provide a set of tools and guidelines on how to consult target groups in the design of your financial and non-financial services, how to measure representation and why it matters and why passing on good gender practices is essential to becoming a catalytic actor in the region.
Select the challenges you identify with and explore the resources
Challenge:
Are you interested in implementing a project that advances women’s financial inclusion? This GIZ toolkit is a practical How to Guide, which aims at equipping you with the necessary knowledge and measures to approach the topic.
⧫⧫⧫ Advanced, English
Ready to apply design thinking methodology to your communications and design strategies for gender-inclusive products and services? Tool 1 of Lens 3 of the Ilu Toolbox explains why it is important to incorporate a gender perspective in product development and how to achieve this in an optimal way and helps you develop the tools and methods for your market research.
Are you thinking of conducting in-depth interviews in order to identify or understand the real needs of the selected target? Make sure to check out Tool 2 of Lens 3 in the Ilu Toolbox. There you will find all the necessary information!
⧫⧫ Intermediate, English, Spanish
Interested in inclusive design for people who have limited access to technology? Check out Sections 7.1.b and 7.3.a to learn more.
Gender disaggregated data allows not only products and services but marketing, communications and publicity materials to become more inclusive and appealing to different people. See Section 5 in this toolkit to dive deeper into why understanding the different needs of women, men and other populations is important.
Challenge:
d) We do not have a marketing and communications strategy that takes into account inclusive language
The Ilu Toolbox Lens 4 Tool 2 is a good starting point into advocacy practices and creating inclusive and non-sexist communication practices across business activities.
⧫ Beginner, English, Spanish
Not familiar with inclusive language in Spanish? Here are three tools that provide some key language considerations and examples you can start using to communicate inclusively.
- Gender Inclusive Language Guide
- Practical guide to inclusive language
- Recommendations for the use of gender-inclusive language
⧫ Beginner, Spanish
Making gender equity, diversity and inclusion as one of your institution's top priorities and sharing that commitment with your business ecosystem is important. Check out the Frontier Incubator’s full strategy here to get you started in turning a policy into an institutional commitment.
Tool 1 of Lens 3 of the Ilu Toolbox is an excellent guide to understanding what to consider and what is needed to start measuring the impact of your institution's actions and strategies.
⧫ Beginner, English, Spanish
Need an accountability framework? Read through how the Generation Equality Forum did it in this case study.
People want to see themselves represented in images they see in the media. There are several great image databases in the market that portray different people in different activities. You can access one comprehensive list here to get started.*
⧫ Beginner, English
*We do not recommend promoting something that does not reflect the realities of your company. However, being invisible in the media is a daily occurrence for many. Understanding diverse representation can help you visualize what equality could look like in your institution and what difference it can make in how people (such as clients and staff) perceive you.
Challenge:
Gender equality is everyone’s business. Actions taken by your institution to incorporate gender perspectives are key to establishing an awareness of gender diversity, equity, and inclusion within the broader business or financial ecosystem, as well as influencing key players to become more accessible and inclusive for everyone.
Every institution is part of a larger ecosystem and can therefore have an impact in change. Don’t be alarmed that this guide is for entrepreneurs, it has excellent insights on how you might use your unique position of power to influence positive, inclusive change.
⧫ Beginner, English
If you need further information, you can also check the GIZ Women’s Financial Inclusion Toolkit (from page 91 onwards) to see why documenting success stories, lessons learnt and illustrating your learnings is a strategy worth considering in gender mainstreaming in financial sectors.
⧫⧫⧫ Advanced, English
Representation is key to gender mainstreaming and it is important to consider different voices when advocating for gender equality in your sector.
Interested in going beyond ‘manels’? Check out this UN guide to understanding why diversity broadens perspectives brought into a discussion and creates spaces for engagement and innovation among different viewpoints and experiences.
⧫ Beginner, English
When visiting conferences or traveling for work, whether as an employee or employer, it is important to consider safety for all. This guide can help you toward an organizational approach to LGBT+ mobility and navigate through what needs to be considered in terms of international mobility and risk assessment.
⧫⧫ Intermediate, English, *** Key resource for diversifying the gender perspective
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