LOME, Togo, November 7, 2022/ — The Ecobank Foundation (https://EcobankFoundation.org) and UN Women’s Regional Office for West and Central Africa today signed a partnership agreement to strengthen their respective agendas for promoting women’s empowerment in Africa. For the first time, these two key actors in the development of the continent have established a framework for cooperation to achieve their common goals and accelerate the empowerment of women in Africa.
LOME, Togo, November 7, 2022/ — The Ecobank Foundation (https://EcobankFoundation.org) and UN Women’s Regional Office for West and Central Africa today signed a partnership agreement to strengthen their respective agendas for promoting women’s empowerment in Africa. For the first time, these two key actors in the development of the continent have established a framework for cooperation to achieve their common goals and accelerate the empowerment of women in Africa.
“Women have always had a central role in the Foundation’s activities and initiatives. Through our partnerships, we have been able to promote, among other things, women’s leadership and girls’ education. With UN Women, we want to go further. We are thrilled to have such a partner, which expertise and experience will help us ensure that a gender equality lens is applied in all our actions,” explains Elisa Desbordes-Cissé, COO of the Ecobank Foundation.Financial inclusion, focusing on womenFor the past nine years, the Ecobank Foundation has been organising the “Ecobank Day”, a unique opportunity for Ecobank Group employees each year to serve the well-being of their communities.This year’s Ecobank Day, scheduled for 12 November, will focus on financial literacy and inclusion as a key factor in reducing poverty and promoting shared prosperity for women and youth, mostly in marginalized communities, with the theme “Leave no one behind: Financial Inclusion for all!”.
Regional Director a.i., Deputy Regional Director, UN Women West and Central Africa Regional Office, Florence Raes, said, “We are excited about this partnership with Ecobank in many ways. Through this collaboration, we will be able to work together to promote gender equality in Africa and empower many more women by increasing their levels of financial literacy and inclusion. And given our shared interest in sports, we will together more effectively combat gender stereotypes by promoting more equal participation of women and girls in the sports industry in Africa.”
About UN Women:
UN Women is the United Nations entity dedicated to gender equality and the empowerment of women. A global standard bearer for women and girls, UN Women was created to accelerate progress in addressing their needs around the world. UN Women supports UN Member States in adopting international standards for achieving gender equality and works with governments and civil society to develop the laws, policies, programmes and services needed to ensure that these standards are effectively implemented and benefit women and girls everywhere. Visit UNwomen.org.
About Ecobank Group (or ‘Ecobank Transnational Incorporated’ or ‘ETI’):
Ecobank Group is the leading private pan-African banking group with unrivalled African expertise. Present in 35 sub-Saharan African countries, as well as France, UK, UAE and China, its unique pan-African platform provides a single gateway for payments, cash management, trade and investments. The Group employs over 13,000 people and offers Consumer, Commercial, Corporate and Investment Banking products, services and solutions across multiple channels including digital, to over 32 million customers. For further information, please visit Ecobank.com.
About Ecobank Foundation:
The Ecobank Foundation was created to make a positive impact on the lives of people in Africa. Established by the Ecobank Group, the leading pan-African bank, the Foundation is positioned to contribute to the social and economic transformation of the continent, particularly in the communities in which the bank operates.For more information, please visit: https://EcobankFoundation.org/