1. IDBG Women's Empowerment Policy (WEP) Workshop on the Role of Women in the Development of OIC Member Countries 3- 4 October 2016 Ankara

2. The Islamic Development Bank IDB Group is the Specialized international financing institution of the OIC Purpose- foster the economic development and social progress of Member States and Muslim Communities individually as well as collectively in accordance with the principles of the Shariah. Mandate is to promote, comprehensive human development in the Muslim World through: Offer development financing Promote Islamic Financial Services Industry Provide knowledge services for development Build capacity & promote technical cooperation Functions of the Group:  IDB provides financial assistance to through equity capital and grant loans for productive economic and social development projects  ICD-development and promotion of the private sector as a vehicle for boosting economic growth and prosperity.  ITFC- Provide financial assistance to foster foreign trade among member countries enhancing the member countries’ trade, intra-trade and international trade potentials is clearly reflected in its mission statement.  ICEC-provide investment and export credit insurance  IRTI- provide research, capacity building, advisory and information services in the area of Islamic economics and finance  ISFD – Provide concessionary loans for low-cost, high-impact, innovative, result-oriented, and mainly community driven poverty reduction projects and programmes undertaken in the priority areas of basic infrastructure development, agriculture and rural development, and human development with capacity building and women empowerment as cross- cutting themes.

3. Why should IDBG have a Women’s Empowerment Policy? The Bank is mandated by its charter to foster socio-economic development in its member countries in accordance to the teachings of Islam. The Articles of Agreement and the Environmental and Social Safeguards concept of the IDB that recognize that development projects are meant to improve the lives of those affected by such projects and to “do no harm”,

4. Islamic Notion of Development Holistic in nature, and is not exclusive to the Muslim population nor to a single race or gender, but rather inclusive of all humans. Islamic Principles of, Trust (entrustment of resources), Well-being (falah) and Justice and equity (adl)

5. Why Empowerment? The Policy deliberately named Women’s Empowerment Policy as it reflects the principle of Empowerment (Tamkin). Empowerment (Tamkin) of members of Ummah, women and men, is a religious obligation. This in accordance with verse 41, Surah Hajj; الَّذِينَ إِنْ مَكَّنَّاهُمْ فِي الْأَرْضِ أَقَامُوا الصَّلَاةَ وَآتَوُا الزَّكَاةَ وَأَمَرُوا بِالْمَعْرُوفِ وَنَهَوْا عَنِ الْمُنْكَرِ ۗ وَلِلَّهِ عَاقِبَةُ الْأُمُورِ Those who, if We give them power in the land, establish worship and pay the poor due and enjoin kindness and forbid iniquity. And Allah's is the sequel of events. Accordingly, empowerment of women is part of a religious requirement that will lead to more justice good deeds and less evil and bad deeds. Moreover, Women also share responsibility in the wellbeing of the nation and people as being guardians and custodians as per Surah Repentance, Verse 71; وَالْمُؤْمِنُونَ وَالْمُؤْمِنَاتُ بَعْضُهُمْ أَوْلِيَاءُ بَعْضٍ يَأْمُرُونَ بِالْمَعْرُوفِ وَيَنْهَوْنَ عَنْ الْمُنكَرِ وَيُقِيمُونَ الصَّلاةَ وَيُؤْتُونَ الزَّكَاةَ وَيُطِيعُونَ اللَّهَ وَرَسُولَهُ أُوْلَئِكَ سَيَرْحَمُهُمْ اللَّهُ إِنَّ اللَّهَ عَزِيزٌ حَكِيمٌ (71) Faithful women and faithful men each of them is the guardian and the custodian of other and each one of them order for the behalf of good deed, and forbid the viciousness, pray to his God, gives the Zakat, and obey Allah and his Prophet. Those Allah shall be mercy with them and reward them. Allah is Mighty and Wise

6. What will the IDBG Women’s Empowerment Policy Do? Set Institutional Commitments and internal framework to adhere to the commitments Serve as the blueprint of how the Bank will approach women’s empowerment and women’s issues. Bring clarity and better implementation on women’s issues within the various strategies, policies, procedures, guidelines and templates for the development assistance provided by the Bank. Ensure equal access to women and men of all Bank resources and opportunities. Identify priority and focus areas to ensure relevance to MC and in support of national women's empowerment objectives

7. Policy Development In order to ensure the involvement of all stake-holders, the policy has been developed through a participatory approach which included consultations with IDBG staff, establishment of development teams Teams: Oversight Team: Director, CAP; Advisor to President; Director, OPSD. Core Team: Manager, Women and NGO Division (Team Leader); Senior Social Development Specialist, CAP; Social Development Specialist, CAP. Internal Resources Team: Will contribute to shaping the approach, providing input on internal and external affairs during the reflection process. The team will do so by attending planned workshops, and serving as peer reviewers by offering written feedback on draft reports. External Technical Cooperation and Support: IDB Women’s Advisory Panel, OIC Directorate of Family and Social Affairs Department, representatives from MCs, and an Islamic scholar. This team will act as a consultative body, by providing technical advice, ensuring a global picture, and maintaining an Islamic perspective. MC Consultation

8. Opportunities/How to utilize them Inclusion of women empowerment IDBG can be done at two levels; Operational level through guidelines, guiding principles and indicators Institutional level through awareness raising and critical mass of thinking The focus on results-based management (RBM) and highlighting on what the Bank is doing to support women of the Ummah will be addressed by the eventual WEP. Projects and programmes should be women’s sensitive and women’s inclusion can be a requirement stipulated in the project’s templates. Have a target-base for women in projects to be signed Appraisal Mission Framework to add the benefit of including women. Have new initiative with countries Teams and National Women machineries. When planning for operation put women’s empowerment as outcome then this appears in the evaluation and result. Sectors Indictors for education, health, Islamic financing, microfinance, infrastructure etc. can be women’s sensitive rather than blind to report on support provided to women. To have feasible and affordable macro data on women this can be done through collecting data from different departments and from the national data of the CMs. Gathering of data can be done in clusters and small survey in social data. This is also a good area for collaboration with UN Women and other relevant organizations.

9. Objectives of the Consultation Obtain feedback from MC Help the Bank to shape and form the policy Establish a base for dialogue in policy formulation and later in implementation

10. For Discussion What are the priority areas the Bank should focus on in the Policy? How should they be organized, by country/region? List of priorities is always long but a manageable number of priorities focus areas will help in optimising policy implementation and in strategizing for policy dialogue and advocacy role with MCs, interaction with other development partners on major initiatives related to these priorities. What are some recommendations to remove constraints and support opportunities in the Banks focus areas? How can the Bank better support MC in their Women’s Empowerment objectives?