WASHINGTON, March 21 (UPI) -- Canada will help the Inter-American Development Bank promote women's rights in Latin America and the Caribbean, the IDB said.
The Canadian government pledged $1.1 million to the bank's gender mainstreaming trust fund, bringing the total sum of the fund to $4 million. Norway was the first government to provide financial backing to the fund.
Since its establishment in 2005, the gender fund provides technical support as well as seed money to help projects that aim to promote gender equality in the region.
Specifically, the fund has lent money to projects in Chile, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Peru and Uruguay, allowing gender consultants to contribute a gender perspective to lending operations in those countries. In addition, there have been studies conducted in Colombia and Costa Rica on female participation in the informal labor market which were financed by the fund.
