Equality of Opportunity Strategy (EOS) 2021-25

The EOS 2021-25 has opened up new areas for EBRD investments that more closely reflect the specific challenges facing the Bank's clients and policy partners. It is enabling the Bank to achieve more targeted and relevant impact by providing an operational response in three expanded focus areas:

As well as strengthening the EBRD’s emphasis on systemic impact – ranging from the individual to the way a company operates through to the market/institutional level – the EOS's focus on equality of opportunity to strengthen the development and resilience of human capital provides a point of differentiation from the mandates of other international financial institutions and builds on the EBRD’s strong private-sector focus.

The EOS also scales up the Bank's existing inclusive investments and policy engagements, including: successful vocational and private sector-led skills and employment programmes across corporate sectors and small and medium-sized enterprises; gender-lens investments in green technologies and sectors; its focus on supporting inclusive infrastructure investments, and; its long-established Women in Business programmes.

In addition, it enables the development of new types of investments and policy support interventions, such as more targeted support for inclusive regions, the promotion of digital and green skills and access to related employment across sectors. It also supports the development of inclusive financial systems, the introduction of environmental, social and governance standards into investments, and the piloting of sustainability and other similar bonds. Furthermore, it provides support for a "just" transition of economies away from carbon-intensive industries or towards potential investment opportunities in the care economy. 

The EOS has been shown to be a strong lever for the Bank's response to crises, armed conflict and natural disasters in its regions. The persistence and growing intensity of these types of events underscores the relevance of the EOS and the importance of enhancing the resilience of human capital. The EOS has been a central element of the EBRD's crisis response across its regions, particularly in Türkiye, Armenia and Morocco, and especially in Ukraine, where the vast majority of projects under the Bank's Resilience and Livelihoods Framework are inclusive, supporting access to vital services and finance, as well as the reintegration of war veterans among some of the country's largest employers, including ArcelorMittal, MHP Group and Naftogaz.