The World Bank says it will create a fund to finance women entrepreneurship, an idea it developed in conjunction with Ivanka Trump, the daughter of the U.S. president.
The International Finance institution on Saturday, said that it would make more than $1 billion available to improve access to capital for women. The Women Entrepreneurs Finance Initiative, as the bank calls it, will provide technical assistance and invest in projects and programs that support women and women-led small- and mid-size businesses.
World Bank President Jim Yong Kim said “Empowering women economically is a moral issue, but it’s also a critical economic issue. No country, organization, or economy can reach its full potential and meet the challenges of the 21st century without the full and equal participation of women and men.”
According to Bloomberg, Ivanka, who works in the White House as an adviser to her father, told reporters on a conference call that she won’t play a fundraising role but will be a “very strong advocate” for the fund.
The World Bank will be the trustee of the fund, which will be overseen by a governing committee representing the donors. The governing panel will have its first meeting in October, the bank said.
The bank targeted $200 million in grants from donor countries and $800 million from financial institutions and commercial contributors. However, the contributions will significantly exceed that amount, according to the development lender.
President Donald Trump announced on Saturday at the G-20 summit that the U.S. has pledged $50 million to the fund
“When more women participate in the work force, which by the way will be a lot more competition for people like me prior to government… the world economy will grow and millions of people will be lifted out of poverty,” the president said, according to a pool report.
The World Bank says it has raised $325 million from numerous countries, with $50 million coming from the United States and other contributions from Germany, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Japan, China, the United Kingdom, South Korea, and the Netherlands.
