Making finance work for sustainable development

The Montreal Council on Foreign Relations (CORIM) recently welcomed IDRC President Jean Lebel and Gerardo Almaguer, president and chief executive officer of Développement international Desjardins (DID), for a conversation on modernizing approaches to increase the impact of international development efforts. 

Topics included the role of the private sector in development, the “decolonization” of international aid and the importance of sustainability in finance work. 

“Our basic premise is to ensure that the impacts will last beyond the lifespan of our interventions,” Almaguer said at the event, which was part of CORIM’s International Development Series. 

As one of the world leaders in microfinance, DID, which is part of the Desjardins Group, supports the creation and development of sustainable financial institutions that are rooted in the community in some 60 countries in Africa, Latin America, the West Indies and Asia.  

Almaguer and Lebel also talked about the importance of addressing climate change and inequalities as part of development efforts. “If we don’t address that, progress in any aspect will be very limited,” Lebel stated. 

Watch the discussion between Gerardo Almaguer and Jean Lebel.