CDB president calls on Commonwealth partners to support Women’s Economic Leadership with resources and results

ST JOHN’S, Antigua – President of the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB, the Bank), Daniel Best, urged Commonwealth governments, investors and development partners to turn gender equality commitments into financing, opportunity and measurable results for women. Delivering the keynote at the Commonwealth Women’s Forum session, Advancing Gender Equality – Investment in Prosperous and Resilient Commonwealth, during the 2026 Commonwealth heads of government meeting (CHOGM), Best said small states offer significant opportunities for women’s economic leadership.

Drawing on the Caribbean saying “one-one cocoa full basket,” Best noted that generations of women have built education, enterprises and communities one contribution at a time, and challenged institutions to match that effort.

“If women are doing their part to build prosperity, are our institutions doing enough to help their efforts grow?” asked president Best.

With global conflict, climate hazards and rising living costs converging on women’s businesses, households and communities, Best cautioned that equality must not be deferred until conditions improve. Guided by CDB’s Strategic Plan, he set out three priorities: connecting women’s enterprise with capital and markets; investing in the conditions that enable women to seize opportunities, including care, safety, accessibility, skills and technology; and making ownership and leadership the goal of transformation.

Best pointed to results that show what is possible when women’s enterprise is connected to opportunity. Through the SheTrades Caribbean Hub, CDB’s partnership with the International Trade Centre, the Bank has built a community of more than 3,000 women entrepreneurs across its 19 borrowing member countries in just three years. The SheTrades Caribbean UK Trade Mission, supported by the SheTrades Commonwealth Programme, connected women entrepreneurs with buyers and distributors and generated almost half a million United States dollars in immediate trade, with potential to more than double. CDB is now using partnerships and innovative finance to expand lending capacity, channel liquidity to small businesses through local institutions, and open procurement and global value chains to women-led firms.

The Women’s Forum is one of five CHOGM 2026 forums supported by CDB through a regional technical assistance intervention valued at approximately USD 747,487. The others are the Youth Forum, Business Forum, People’s Forum and the Disability Inclusion Action Plan Symposium.

Best closed with a call to action. For CDB, that means financing women’s ambitions, investing in the conditions that support them and backing their leadership in the industries of the future. For the Forum, it means leaving with partnerships ready to deliver, commitments backed by resources and clear accountability for results.

“Every investment matters. Every barrier removed matters. Every commitment honoured matters. Let us make them count, until every girl can grow up knowing that she has the freedom to build, the opportunity to own and the authority to lead.” said president Best.

CDB’s support aims to reduce participation barriers for delegates from its borrowing member countries and ensure forum outcomes strengthen policies, partnerships and investments across the Caribbean, with particular emphasis on increasing the participation of youth, women and persons with disabilities in Commonwealth decision-making.

Held under the CHOGM 2026 theme, “Accelerating Partnerships and Investment for a Prosperous Commonwealth,” the forums are expected to produce recommendations and outcome documents to inform Heads of Government and support follow-up action across member states.