AFI and Canada’s International Development Research Center (IDRC) have entered into a three-year partnership that will develop new knowledge and foster policy peer learning on financial inclusion, furthering the strategic objectives of both institutions.

Financial inclusion—improving access and availability of financial services for the poor—can reduce inequality and promote social mobility. The IDRC-AFI partnership will generate new knowledge in policy areas including gender and financial inclusion, digital financial services and financial literacy. The partnership will also support the launch and implementation of AFI’s regional policy peer learning platform in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC).

AFI members are central banks and other financial regulatory institutions from more than 90 developing countries, where the majority of the world’s unbanked reside. With AFI’s and IDRC’s combined experience and global reach, the partnership is expected to further raise the international profile of financial inclusion and attract additional research partners, academia and policymaking institutions to help advance policy peer-learning in areas where AFI regulators and policymakers are currently focused.

“I am very pleased to welcome IDRC as AFI’s knowledge and funding partner. This partnership will enable groundbreaking intellectual exchange that will inform policymaking in years to come, improving the regulatory environment to support technological innovation and helping to close the gender gap in financial inclusion.” said Alfred Hannig, Executive Director at AFI. “AFI is uniquely positioned to bring such knowledge to scale globally and to convene, together with IDRC, a broad network of intellectual partners in the developing world and Canada who work toward a shared objective—expanding access to quality financial services for vulnerable populations around the world.”

“Access to formal financial services is a major step towards social and economic inclusion and empowerment for women,” said Jean Lebel, President of Canada’s International Development Research Centre. “IDRC is pleased to partner with AFI to foster financial inclusion that can enhance the livelihoods of vulnerable people. This partnership will generate knowledge and support for policymakers who want to find solutions to financial inclusion challenges.”

One of the first areas of focus for the partnership will be the AFI Action Plan for Gender and Women’s Financial Inclusion, which is expected to be adopted at the 2016 AFI Global Policy Forum. The Action Plan will identify measures AFI members can take to reduce the number of women lacking access to quality financial services globally in order to close the gender gap and ensure equal access to financial services for all.

The partnership will also enable AFI members to develop and implement effective policies and regulations to create an enabling environment that will accelerate women’s financial inclusion. The technical expertise and intellectual contributions of IDRC and its network will help to develop gender-focused knowledge products to foster national financial inclusion strategies in the LAC region and elsewhere.

About IDRC

Part of Canada’s foreign affairs and development efforts, IDRC invests in knowledge, innovation, and solutions to improve lives and livelihoods in the developing world. Bringing together the right partners around opportunities for impact, IDRC builds leaders for today and tomorrow and helps drive large-scale positive change.