Washington, March 16, 2026—The Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA), which houses the World Bank Group Guarantee Platform, will present its 11th annual Gender Leadership Award to Katarina Zdraljevic, Head of Group Sustainability at ProCredit Holding of Germany. The award is presented annually to mark International Women’s Day.
Established in 2016, the Gender Leadership Award honors a distinguished senior leader collaborating with the World Bank Group Guarantee Platform who has made outstanding contributions to women’s empowerment, gender equality, and inclusive development while advancing the WBG’s mission to end extreme poverty and boost prosperity on a livable planet. The theme of this year’s award is “Investing in Women, Transforming Economies, Generating Jobs.”
Ms. Zdraljevic has spent 14 years in development finance with the ProCredit group, focusing on decarbonization, sustainable agriculture, and green finance for small businesses in Latin America, Southeastern Europe, and Eastern Europe. As Head of Group Sustainability at ProCredit Holding in Frankfurt, she oversees environmental management, net-zero strategy, climate action, inclusive finance, and gender equity. She also serves on the board of ProCredit Bank Ecuador.
“Katarina Zdraljevic is an inspirational leader who has worked tirelessly toward the goal of global gender equality,” said Tsutomu Yamamoto, Managing Director of MIGA. “Under her leadership, ProCredit has partnered with MIGA to channel resources into women-led businesses and sustainability projects, reinforcing ProCredit’s commitment to gender-responsive finance and inclusive growth.”
Ms. Zdraljevic has been a strong advocate for inclusive finance and gender equality. She led the adoption of MIGA’s Gender Action Plan for ProCredit, including the development and implementation of a board-approved gender strategy that integrates internal practices and client-facing lending, including gender training at all levels. More than 20 percent of ProCredit’s small-business loans support firms that are at least 50 percent owned or led by women. ProCredit projects have supported some 193,000 jobs, with 42 percent of them held by women. Ms. Zdraljevic also participates in external gender forums such as the Financial Alliance for Women.
While women and girls have made major strides in education and health, these gains have not fully translated into economic opportunities. Women’s human capital remains underutilized, as barriers such as unpaid care responsibilities, restrictive social norms, and limited access to finance and digital tools continue to constrain their participation in the workforce and the broader economy. Globally, women’s labor force participation has remained stagnant at 53 percent since 1990—compared to 80 percent for men. More than 710 million women are kept out of the labor market due to family care duties, and millions more face exclusion from financial and digital services. Women-led micro, small, and medium enterprises face a credit gap estimated at $1.9 trillion globally, which limits their ability to grow, create jobs, and contribute fully to economic development.
"This award reminds us how inclusive finance can drive meaningful change,” said Ms. Zdraljevic. “When we confront the structural barriers women encounter and design financial solutions that genuinely meet their needs, we don’t just support individual entrepreneurs, we strengthen the social and economic fabric of entire regions. Women’s success has a multiplier effect, and investing in their potential is one of the most forward‑looking decisions any financial institution can make."
The Gender Leadership Award event will be livestreamed on Tuesday, March 17 from 11 a.m. to noon ET and will be available for replay at the same address. The keynote speaker will be Zainab Ahmed, the World Bank Group’s Board member representing Angola, Nigeria, and South Africa. For more information about the award, please visit https://live.worldbank.org/en/event/2026/gender-leadership-award.
About ProCredit Holding
ProCredit Holding AG, based in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, is the parent company of the development-oriented ProCredit group, which consists of commercial banks for micro, small, and medium enterprises as well as private individuals, fostering economic, ecological, and social development. In addition to its operational focus on Southeastern and Eastern Europe, the ProCredit group is also active in South America and Germany.
About the World Bank Group Guarantee Platform
Initiated in 2024, the World Bank Group Guarantee Platform consolidates guarantee products and experts from across the World Bank Group at MIGA. It provides a simplified and comprehensive menu of guarantee solutions, enabling clients to select the instrument that best suits their needs. The platform streamlines processes, removes redundancies, and provides greater accessibility by de-risking investments in developing countries. Its goal is to boost the World Bank Group’s annual guarantee issuance to $20 billion by 2030.
For more information about the guarantee platform, please visit: https://www.worldbank.org/wbgguarantees
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Contact
In Washington: Elizabeth Howton, ehowton [at] worldbankgroup.org (ehowton[at]worldbankgroup[dot]org)