Evaluation insights on International Financial Institutions’ support to gender mainstreaming

For decades, International Financial Institutions (IFIs) have supported efforts to close gender gaps and mainstream gender considerations across their operations. They have developed tools to enhance results and track progress, and numerous evaluations have provided evidence-based findings and lessons to inform and strengthen future efforts.

Building on this body of work, key questions emerge: How can IFIs most effectively promote gender equality and equal opportunities? What lessons have been learned about implementing, mainstreaming, planning, prioritising, monitoring, and learning from gender-focused initiatives?

This paper updates the 2021 Connecting the Dots publication, which reviewed 12 independent evaluations and related strategies, scorecards, and diagnostics from eight IFIs. Since then, between April 2024 and April 2025, the evaluation departments of the Asian Development Bank, European Investment Bank, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, and the World Bank Group have released new gender-related evaluations. These provide additional evidence and insights to further inform IFI practices.

The updated version revisits the six key lessons for effective gender mainstreaming—highlighting both enablers and barriers—and introduces two new lessons, expanding the framework for advancing gender equality in IFI operations.