Supporting Working Parents: Tackling Childcare

IFC hosted the Supporting Working Parents: Tackling Childcare event at the 2017 WBG-IMF Annual Meetings to draw attention to the growing need for childcare options for working parents. Businesses, economies, and workers and their children all benefit when companies offer childcare options to employees.

Nena Stoiljkovic, Vice President of Blended Finance and Partnerships, IFC, highlighted the key findings from the recently released Tackling Childcare: The Business Case for Employer-Supported Childcare report, noting that no country, community, or economy can meet the challenges of the 21st century without addressing the childcare needs of employees.

Panelists Ram Kumar Gupta, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Labour and Employment, India; Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, Executive Director, UN Women; Farhan A. Ifram, CEO, MAS Kreeda Al Safi; and Stephen Kramer, President, Bright Horizons Family Solutions, discussed industry best practices and explored new approaches to address childcare. Gillian Tett, U.S. Managing Editor, the Financial Times, moderated the dialogue.

The speakers emphasized that if the world were to achieve UN Sustainable Development Goals, specifically those related to poverty, health and well-being, and gender equality, then public and private sectors must come together to explore innovative childcare solutions.