Above: the Inter-American Development Bank

By the Caribbean Journal staff

The Danish government has given a $2.4 million donation to the Inter-American Development Bank’s Gender and Diversity Multi-Donor Fund to expand activities aimed at promoting gender equality and social inclusion in Latin America and the Caribbean.

The contribution letter was signed by IDB President Luis Alberto Moreno and Danish Ambassador to the United States Peter Taskoe-Jensen.

“With this important contribution, Denmark is helping to ensure that economic growth in Latin America and the Caribbean will benefit all sectors of society,” Moreno said. “A region that enfranchises its women, indigenous people and Afro-descendants will be both more prosperous and more just.”

The fund was created in 2009 to combat discrimination and foster gender equality in the region. Total donations to the fund now amount to $23 million.

“Women and men should have equal opportunities,” the Danish Ambassador said. “No matter whether it is about equal access to bank loans, hospital and health service, to schools and universities or to work, women are a huge and often untapped resource in many Latin American countries.”