Gender equality makes for ‘shrewd economics’
The most glaring disparity is the rate at which women die relative to men in developing countries, according to the World Development Report 2012: Gender Equality and Development.
“Blocking women and girls from getting the skills and earnings to succeed in a globalised world is not only wrong, but also economically harmful,” said Justin Yifu Lin, the chief economist of the World Bank.
“Sharing the fruits of growth and globalisation equally between men and women is essential to meeting key development goals.”
The report cited the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation’s estimates that equal access to resources for female farmers could increase agricultural output in poorer countries by up to 4%.
It also stated that eliminating barriers preventing women working in certain occupations would cut the productivity gap between male and female workers to a half, and increase output per worker by 3% to 25% in some countries.
“We need to achieve gender equality,” said Robert Zoellick, the president of the World Bank.
He said that over the past five years the World Bank has provided funds to support girls’ education, women’s health, and their access to credit, land, agricultural services, jobs, and infrastructure.
“This has been important work, but it has not been enough or central enough to what we do. Going forward, the World Bank Group will mainstream our gender work and find other ways to move the agenda forward to capture the full potential of half the world’s population,” said Zoellick.
Significant gains in gender equality have been made in recent years. Women now represent 40% of the global labour force, 43% of the agricultural labour force, and more than half of university students, according to the report.
More than half a billion women have joined the workforce in the last 30 years, it added.
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