Press Release No. <a name="P16_75"></a>03/28

We, the Heads of the Multilateral Development Banks/International Monetary Fund, affirm the importance of promoting gender equality and empowering women for achieving the Millennium Development Goals.

Gender equality is not only a goal in its own right, but is important for reducing poverty and hunger, ensuring education for all, reducing child mortality, promoting maternal health, combating HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases, and ensuring environmental sustainability. Research and on-the-ground experience show that providing females and males with equal access to capacity, resources, opportunities and voice increases productivity, accelerates economic growth, makes poverty reduction more achievable, and improves the well-being of children, women and men. It also supports international conventions and treaties, including the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW).

Gender equality in our organizations is not only an issue of fairness; it strengthens our work. Organizational research and experience show that a more balanced workplace contributes to a diversity of approaches to the complex problems of development.

In light of this, we affirm our continued commitment to promoting gender equality in our organizations and in the work of our organizations to assist member countries.

Omar Kabbaj African Development Bank	Tadao Chino Asian Development Bank	Jean Lemierre European Bank for Reconstruction and Development
Horst Köhler International Monetary Fund	Enrique Iglesias Inter-American Development Bank	James Wolfensohn World Bank