Empowering Women to Shape the Future of Jobs

Several things can be done to build resilience against climate change and empowering women is one of them. The effects of climate change and the corresponding changes in national policies and development strategies will affect economic opportunities for both men and women. Engaging women is key to development, including climate action. Women’s leadership and empowerment, in conjunction with girls’ education, family planning, reproductive and sexual health, and reduced child marriage, can facilitate the transition to low-carbon economies, help improve resource use, and assist in lowering environmental damage and land fragmentation, as well as increase resilience.

Expert: Uche Ekhator-Mobayode
 

There are several promising interventions to help women raise capital. They include encouraging spousal support; safely connecting women to mentors and role models and enhancing women’s education; and increasing access to capital and loans. Complementary measures, such as tackling discrimination and harassment could also help women establish themselves and be independent. See  documents.worldbank.org/... for evidence-based programs and policies which can support women move into more profitable sectors and contribute to their business performance more generally.

Expert: Uche Ekhator-Mobayode
 

The ways to empower women can differ across countries/regions. This is because barriers that impede the economic participation of women differ. In general, in each context, women's empowerment should be centered around removing these barriers and making sure that women are no more disadvantaged than their male counterparts in contributing to economic growth and development.

Expert: Uche Ekhator-Mobayode
 

Prevention is key for reducing gender-based violence (GBV) against women. But after violence happens, an effective response is key to mitigating the impact.

See  genderdata.worldbank.org/... for a data story on “escaping gender-based violence”.

Expert: Uche Ekhator-Mobayode
 

Of course. The World Bank Group's recruitment policy is to hire staff of the highest caliber, on as wide a geographical basis as possible, with preference to nationals of WBG member countries or countries of operations. See  www.worldbank.org/... for various programs and internships that a Zambian national qualifies for.

Expert: Uche Ekhator-Mobayode
 

There is clearly an additional challenge for women who are disadvantaged in education and finances, especially in low-income economies. However, even in this setting, these women still have a chance. ole model and networking interventions that expose women to other successful women and provide them with networks needed to succeed.

Expert: Uche Ekhator-Mobayode
 

Gender gaps that stall growth and development affect both developed and developing nations. However, the context differs between the developed and developing world. The gender gap in economic participation of women is higher in developing economies.

See  genderdata.worldbank.org/... for an overview of female labor force participation by income groups.

Expert: Uche Ekhator-Mobayode
 

Studies across cities show that given their need to balance household and work responsibilities, women typically combine tasks necessitating several short trips across multiple modes, i.e., trip chaining, rather than a unimodal, long trip from origin to destination. Planning public transport systems so that users can easily switch, say from a bus to a metro, or rickshaw, thus benefits women. See more on this in the World Bank blog  blogs.worldbank.org/...

Also see the World Bank’s Toolkit on Enabling Gender Responsive Urban Mobility and Public Spaces in India which provides several intervention options for gender mainstreaming to strengthen urban mobility infrastructure and services.  openknowledge.worldbank.org/...

Finally see  www.worldbank.org/... for an overview of the World Bank in India.

Expert: Uche Ekhator-Mobayode
 

Very much agree on this. The COPs have highlighted the importance of gender equality in climate change, recognizing that impacts of climate change are different for women and men and that women need to be included as agents of change in tackling the climate crisis. For example, the Middle East and North Africa region has the lowest female labor force participation rates in the world (19 percent), but relatively high levels of educational attainment among women, which means that the transition to a greener/bluer economy offers an opportunity to ensure that women have the skills and the access to join new and/or changing jobs. It is also important to understand and address the livelihoods aspect of forcibly displaced women and of women in rural areas. In fact, the World Bank just published a blog that focus on making sure women and girls have access to science and technology fields of study to be ready for the new jobs:  blogs.worldbank.org/...

Expert: Jonna Lundwall
 

Globally, multiple supply side, demand-side, and contextual factors constrain female labor force participation. Supply-side constraints include time constraints from childcare and domestic work and mobility constraints around work outside the home. Gender differences in endowments—including technical and socio-emotional skills, assets, and networks—further circumscribe women’s entry into the labor market. Demand-side barriers include a mismatch in skills and education needed for available jobs, gender gaps and discrimination in hiring and retention, and a lack of benefits with inadequate support for childcare, parental leave, re-entry programs, and career advancement. Contextual factors include social and cultural norms, restrictive policies and laws, and risk and incidence of gender-based violence, especially sexual harassment in the workplace. These factors reinforce each other, as well supply-side and demand-side constraints, binding women throughout their lives.

For each region including Africa, effective policy options need to be backed by evidence. Each country and region should adopt a mix of policy options that reflect its unique challenges - adopted interventions need to align with the most pressing constraints alongside addressing economy-wide gender discriminatory laws that impede women's participation in the labor force. The World Bank Group is actively supporting countries to boost female labor force participation through development policy lending, advisory and analytical work, and supporting reforms to address constraining contextual factors, including legal barriers, social norms, and gender-based violence. To learn more about the World Bank’s work in Africa see  www.worldbank.org/africa

Expert: Uche Ekhator-Mobayode
 

Dear Rashad,
Thank you for your question. To join the conversation and watch the event live, you do not need to register. You can sign up for reminders or add the event to your calendar, but all you need is to come back to this event page when the event starts.

ModeratorLiviane Urquiza
 

We see that women entrepreneurs struggle both in formal and informal sectors, and part of this is related to unequal access to asset ownership such as bank accounts and financial products and services and to a formal environment that is not giving men and women the same rights. At a legislative level, governments could ensure that their laws are non-discriminatory. For example, the World Bank’s Women, Business and the Law initiative presents an index that measures eight dimensions that are important for women’s equal economic opportunities. The Middle East and North Africa Region presents the largest gender gap, with women having only about half the rights men do in aspects like mobility, workplace, entrepreneurship and pay (at an index of 53 out of 100, with 100 being no discrimination). However, this needs to be accompanied by policies that expand access to finance and markets in a way that specifically address constraints that women may face to a larger extent than men (related to collaterals, time and location of service providers, adequate training, among other aspects), as well as continuous work related to social norms that may restrict women’s role in the economic sphere. Stay tuned to connect to the launch of the 2023 Women, Business and the Law report on March 2, for more on this ( wbl.worldbank.org/).

Expert: Jonna Lundwall
 

In 2018, the World Bank Group operationalized its Country Partnership Framework (CPF) for Nepal, that covers a period of five years – FY2019 to FY2023.

The CPF prioritizes the following areas:

Strengthening public institutions. The WBG will be explicit in its support to strengthening public institutions for effective economic management, service delivery, and public investment not only at national level, but at sub-national levels.

Private sector led jobs and growth. The WBG will contribute to generating more and better jobs through private sector-driven growth, building on ongoing work to improve access to energy and connectivity, regulatory environment and financial sector stability.

Inclusion and diversity. The WBG will work to achieve greater inclusion for the poor, vulnerable, and marginalized groups, with greater resilience against climate change, natural disasters, and other exogenous shocks.

Across all its activities, the aim of the World Bank is to achieve greater gender equity and inclusion, to ensure citizen engagement, to incorporate climate co-benefits, and to maximize financing for development. To learn about what the World Bank in Nepal see  www.worldbank.org/...

Expert: Uche Ekhator-Mobayode
 

Prevention is key for reducing gender-based violence (GBV) against women. But after violence happens, an effective response is key to mitigating the impact. To empower women, policy makers can leverage data to understand the scale of the problem and help the most vulnerable groups. That means tailoring GBV services to help adolescent girls and other marginalized groups and taking an intersectional approach. And when survivors are not accessing the services that they need, it means gathering data to find out why, going beyond business as usual to better meet the needs of survivors. If governments around the world prioritize enhancing services for GBV survivors today, they will not only help GBV survivors but also gain more insights from service records to better understand the GBV situation and ultimately improve policies and interventions to eradicate GBV.

See  genderdata.worldbank.org/... for a data story on “escaping gender-based violence”.

Expert: Uche Ekhator-Mobayode
 

There are many policy makers and leaders in both private and public sector, and in civil society and academia, who play an important role in motivating and inspiring action. With social media, there are many platforms out there to exchange knowledge and ideas. Through events like this one, the World Bank tries to facilitate the exchange across countries and stakeholders – there is a lot to be learned about not only what works, but also from what has not worked as well. Beyond sharing experiences it is important to generate evidence on how to close gender gaps, something that the World Bank’s regional Gender Innovation Labs do through impact evaluations and research. See for example the Africa GIL:  www.worldbank.org/...

Expert: Jonna Lundwall
 

Well said! The power of role models, networks and support is real, especially as we venture into an era of new types of jobs (digital, green/blue economy…) and a wider variety of how we work (from home, with flexibility, gig economy). However, networks and women support groups is also central to the more traditional rural livelihoods where these can help with support, information and knowledge sharing on a wide range of topics that impact access to markets, to extension services to productive assets. Women can also engage in networks such as the South Asia WePOWER Network ( collaboration.worldbank.org/...) and other networks for professional women in jobs relevant for the green transition.

Expert: Jonna Lundwall
 

There are for sure a series of gender norms that directly constrain progress across development objectives. But there is a difference between cultural, religious and social gender norms – some being stickier than others to change. In general, better measurements of social norms and better understanding of how their constraining role can be loosened may be critical for achieving gender equality in different contexts. Also, since the World Development Report 2015 on Mind, Society and Behavior ( www.worldbank.org/...) there has been an increased emphasis on identifying, addressing and reshaping the norms and beliefs that inhibit women’s progress across domains to contribute to breaking down barriers to equality for women and girls. Initiatives to work on this include  www.worldbank.org/... and
www.worldbank.org/...

Expert: Jonna Lundwall
 

Women earning less than men (actually between 10 to 30 percent less than men), is indeed a global phenomenon that cannot simply be explained by observable characteristics such as level of education, location, sector or hours of work. Women in general have lower access to productive inputs (finance, services, technologies, markets…) which directly impacts their economic opportunities. There needs to be both public and private sector commitments to ensuring equal pay for work of equal value. While, as you mention, legislation may not be enough, it’s a good start. According to the Women, Business and the Law, more than two thirds of economies can improve legislation affecting women’s remuneration, and almost half of the world’s economies do not have legislation that mandate equal remuneration for work of equal value:  wbl.worldbank.org/

Expert: Jonna Lundwall
 

There is a need to provide the evidence to show that not just attracting and retaining women in the labor market, but also for employers to see the business case for also promoting them. Globally, less than a fifth of firms has a female top manager and in a region like the Middle East and North Africa, it’s only 7 percent! The International Finance Corporation, IFC, which is the private sector arm of the World Bank Group, work with the private sector to expand employment opportunities but also to support women’s leadership in the private sector This includes promoting family friendly workplace policies, encouraging more women on boards, and other. See more at  www.ifc.org/...

Expert: Jonna Lundwall
 

For women, like for men, having their own means of income generation or secured livelihoods is one aspect that facilitates being able to shape one’s own wellbeing and future. It’s not a “solution” for everything but it is an important start to increase overall agency and wellbeing. Job creation is a problem across the world, but it’s important to be able to not only make that pie larger but also ensure a more equitable distribution of that pie.

Expert: Jonna Lundwall
 

The World Bank Morocco program has the overarching goal of contributing to social cohesion by improving the conditions for growth and job creation and reducing social and territorial disparities, so inequalities is definitely central. Inequalities related to gender, but also other aspects such as focusing on lagging regions. More details on the Bank’s portfolio can be found at  www.worldbank.org/morocco

Expert: Jonna Lundwall
 

Unfortunately, women earning less than men (actually between 10 to 30 percent less than men), is a global phenomenon that cannot simply be explained by observable characteristics such as level of education, location, sector or hours of work. Women in general have lower access to productive inputs (finance, services, technologies, markets…) which directly impacts their economic opportunities. There needs to be both public and private sector commitments to ensuring equal pay for work of equal value. According to the Women, Business and the Law, more than two thirds of economies can improve legislation affecting women’s remuneration, and almost half of the world’s economies do not have legislation that mandate equal remuneration for work of equal value:  wbl.worldbank.org/...

Expert: Jonna Lundwall
 

Skills development is important for women and men of all ages in particular to meet the demands of an ever-changing and fast evolving labor market. Apart from formal education, improving cognitive, socio-emotional, technical and digital skills can help create a bridge between the education and the labor market especially for first time job seekers who may not have any relevant work experience. Technical and vocational education and training, and linkages to the labor market, can be particularly useful to make sure that young people, especially women, have the skills to compete for better paying jobs. But as you note, it is also important to identify ways to help women get back into the labor force, or to join it, after the years in which she potentially stayed home to care for children and the household, through reskilling and upskilling programs. You can read more on how the Bank supports skills development here:  www.worldbank.org/...

Expert: Jonna Lundwall
 

Women have historically been underrepresented in different levels of policy making – from local level to parliament, as well as in higher positions of power (minister, head of state). A number of factors influence this, including women’s role and perceived role in the family and in the society as a whole. Women are in most societies given the caretaker role, while men are given the provider role, leading to an unequal access to public spaces, to jobs, networks, assets… But the situation is improving: in 2000, less that 14 percent of parliamentary seats were held by women, in 2020 this had increased to over 25 percent!

Expert: Jonna Lundwall
 

This is a great question. It’s important to discuss and tackle gender inequalities on all levels, simultaneously. It is key to count on policy makers buy-in and championship of the agenda as they are the ones who decide on national budget, policies and legal framework. But this is not enough. Engaging at not only the country-level but also sub-national and very local level is fundamental for programs to support marginalized women to actually work. For example, the Bank’s Community Driven Development programs operate on the principles of transparency, participation, local empowerment, demand-responsiveness, greater downward accountability, and enhanced local capacity  www.worldbank.org/...

Expert: Jonna Lundwall
 

Implementing programming that can increase gender equality and empower women and girls, is critical in displacement settings. Policies that have been known to work include those that respond to high monetary and multidimensional poverty rates of displaced communities, and respond to elevated risks of intimate partner and other forms of gender-based violence for forcibly displaced women and girls among others.

The World bank’s Gender Dimensions of Forced Displacement (GDFD) research program provides insights on how forced displacement affect women and men differently and how policy and program design and implementation reflect these differences?

See  www.worldbank.org/... for more on this program.

Expert: Uche Ekhator-Mobayode
 

The impact of COVID-19 has been unprecedented, exacerbating existing crises and widening disparities by gender and different socio-economic, regional factors. We see that women’s increased care & household responsibilities, intensified by school closures and lockdowns, limited their voice & agency – and their possibilities of participating in the labor market. And it does affect women more than men: shortly after the outbreak, the share of female permanent full-time workers declined with 5 percentage points in Morocco, 6 pp in Jordan. Globally, women-owned and -led micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) have been more severely affected than men-led enterprises. We also see that the risks of GBV, including domestic violence, child marriage, female genital mutilation, have increased since the outbreak. From the Bank’s side, the emergency relief projects attempt to specifically identify and address any gender gaps in the COVID response. Read more about this at  www.worldbank.org/...

Expert: Jonna Lundwall
 

Women have historically been underrepresented in different levels of policy making – from local level to parliament, as well as in higher positions of power (minister, head of state). A number of factors influence this, including women’s role and perceived role in the family and in the society as a whole. Women are in most societies given the caretaker role, while men are given the provider role, leading to an unequal access to public spaces, to jobs, networks, assets… But the situation is improving: in 2000, less that 14 percent of parliamentary seats were held by women, in 2020 this had increased to over 25 percent!

Expert: Jonna Lundwall
 

Inclusion is a key aspect of sustainable economic growth and resilient societies – this includes principles of non-discrimination and putting people first in development processes. There is a need to expand opportunities for all people, boys and girls, women and men. And no matter their geographical location, ethnicity, religion… But evidence does show that women in general face more hurdles than men across all strata of society and therefore we do want to make sure we provide the support needed for this large segment of society to be able to live and prosper alongside men.

Expert: Jonna Lundwall
 

There is a tech divide that constrains women’s participation in the digital economy. Worldwide, women have less access to internet, to mobile phones, to tools like electronic identification and eWallets. In many countries, eWallets is an important tool for women’s wage protection, for access to social benefits and for participating the economic market. Also, eCommerce platforms are increasingly targeting women entrepreneurs, but find that there are both general macro-level structural issues as well as gender-specific challenges. In the Mashreq countries of Iraq, Jordan and Lebanon a recent Digital Development and Gender clinic identified five lessons to increase women’s work in the digital sector:  www.worldbank.org/...

Expert: Jonna Lundwall
 

Referring to another similar question here: The COPs have highlighted the importance of gender equality in climate change, recognizing that impacts of climate change are different for women and men and that women need to be included as agents of change in tackling the climate crisis. For example, the Middle East and North Africa region has the lowest female labor force participation rates in the world (19 percent), but relatively high levels of educational attainment among women, which means that the transition to a greener/bluer economy offers an opportunity to ensure that women have the skills and the access to join new and/or changing jobs. It is also important to understand and address the livelihoods aspect of forcibly displaced women and of women in rural areas. In fact, the World Bank just published a blog that focus on making sure women and girls have access to science and technology fields of study to be ready for the new jobs:  blogs.worldbank.org/...

Expert: Jonna Lundwall
 

It’s a nascent area of focus in most countries, and there are initiatives led by governments, universities and local and international development partners to put a stronger emphasis on not only getting more women into science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) tertiary education programs as a first step towards preparing for work in the sector of green jobs. See for example this program in Africa that aims to increase the share of girls in science:  www.worldbank.org/... Women can also engage in networks such as the South Asia WePOWER Network ( collaboration.worldbank.org/...) that is a vibrant voluntary women’s professional network in Energy and Power Sector in South Asia that supports women's participation in energy projects and institutions and promotes normative change regarding women in STEM education. A similar network is being set up for the MENA region, see:  blogs.worldbank.org/...

Expert: Jonna Lundwall
 

There is a clear challenge for many countries to create the fiscal space needed to implement policies that support gender equality, but there are resource efficient actions that can be taken. For example, governments increasingly lift legal restrictions for women’s full participation in society, which is a low-cost but important first step towards leveling the playing field for women’s full integration in society. It is also important to invest in data and knowledge. Understanding the gender gaps in access to services, jobs and assets, can be a first important step towards designing more targeted and inclusive strategies, which many times only require fairly minor adjustments. However, achieving gender parity in key development outcomes will not be a quick process, and countries’ need long-term strategies that help address the multiple, complex challenges out there.

Expert: Jonna Lundwall
 

There are a number of actions taken across the globe to increase investments in gender equality: increasing women in decision-making positions; reforming laws and policies; investing in targeted social protection programs; ensuring women and girls are not disproportionately affected by taxes; devising gender-sensitive public procurement practices…

Expert: Jonna Lundwall
 

Working with local organizations at the grassroot level is important to understand local realities and make sure interventions are devised in a way that does not only build on the local knowledge and experience but also involve these stakeholders in the implementation of interventions. Especially to understand the difference in demands and needs across groups, such as women vs men. The World Bank promotes citizen engagement in the design and implementation in our different lending instruments. More can be learned about how to engage here:  www.worldbank.org/...

Expert: Jonna Lundwall
 

The World Bank’s work in Kenya supports the government’s Vision 2030 development strategy, which aims to accelerate sustainable growth, reduce inequality, and manage resource scarcity. These include programs targeted towards empowering women. See more about the World Bank in Kenya at  www.worldbank.org/...

Expert: Uche Ekhator-Mobayode
 

The MeToo movement did put sexual exploitation, harassment and abuse at the center of not only the global stage, but also at the country level across the world. Violence against women and girls has a significant toll on not just their wellbeing, but also on their families across generations and societies more broadly. The lockdowns and reduced mobility due to COVID-10 led to increases in GBV – many countries have reported substantial increases in emergency calls for domestic violence. Many are also experiencing decreased access to services, including crisis centers, shelters, legal aid, and protection services. The topic of GBV is also associated with economic costs for countries, because of the need to provide services for survivors, and a lot more is needed to strengthen these services and to focus more on prevention. The World Bank is increasingly invested in GBV prevention and response though operations in all sectors across regions through helping countries to provide services, create safe environments, promote positive transformation of attitudes, and empower women and girls.

Expert: Jonna Lundwall
 

This is a good point. While a focus on getting young people into the labor force, i is also important to identify ways to help women get back into the labor force, or to join it, after the years in which she potentially stayed home to care for children and the household. We do need to work with private sector to ensure they see the value of the broad labor force, and it may also be useful to identify and join different professional networks to get support. Reskilling and upskilling programs can be a way for women to get back into the labor market. You can read more on how the Bank supports skills development here:  www.worldbank.org/...

Expert: Jonna Lundwall
 

One example of a tool that comes to my mind is the interagency program Public Expenditure and Financial Accountability (PEFA) Supplementary Framework for Assessing Gender Responsive Public Financial Management measures the degree to which a country’s PFM systems address the government’s goals with regard to acknowledging different needs of men and women, and different subgroups of these categories, and promoting gender equality. Read more:  www.pefa.org/gender

Expert: Jonna Lundwall
 

You are right – empowering women is one side of the coin, but equally important (if not more important!) is the enabling environment for women to thrive on equal footing with men. When we talk about the enabling environment it refers to formal restrictions such as legal or regulatory ones, social ones such as norms that prescribe certain gendered roles to women and men, but we also need to identify specific hurdles women face (increased options for childcare and elderly care services, safer and more accessible transportation, more family-friendly workplace policies, etc). Each country, and generally speaking within each country, will need to identify the most relevant policies for their context.

Expert: Jonna Lundwall
 

Across the world, women tend to be expected to take on caregiving roles (children, elderly, sick, disabled), which in combination with a lack of accessible, affordable care services of quality makes women drop out of the labor force when having children (or sometimes even as soon as getting married, in anticipation of having children and taking care of the household: see this Mashreq report for example:  www.worldbank.org/...). But the workplace, especially private sector, also has a role to play in creating a workplace environment that is compatible with family responsibilities of both men and women, something that has proven to increase overall firm productivity, retention and satisfaction rates. The International Finance Corporation, the World Bank’s private sector arm, explores and supports this further in their Tackling Childcare initiative:  www.ifc.org/...

Expert: Jonna Lundwall
 

The constraints women face to be at the forefront of policy making and ensure women’s equal opportunities to participate in the labor market are many and range from creating an enabling environment without formal legal or regulatory restrictions and identifying and addressing social norms that may limit women’s full participation in the society and economy. In addition, specific incentives to get more women into the labor force can include a range of policy actions based on country specific barriers that impact women disproportionately, such as lack of options for childcare and elderly care services, safe and accessible transportation, family-friendly workplace policies, etc). Many countries have developed specific strategies or plans for women’s empowerment and gender equality, others incorporate sector specific priorities. A broad, and long-term vision and strategy is needed, but in general we see that emphasizing young women’s entry into the labor market should be a priority.

Expert: Jonna Lundwall
 

Unconscious biases, societal norms, lack of exposure to the sector, and time and capital constraints are just some of the many push and pull factors holding women back from entering male-dominated sectors. See  documents.worldbank.org/... for evidence-based programs and policies which can support women crossing over to the typically more profitable male dominated sectors.

Expert: Uche Ekhator-Mobayode