Gülin Yücel, a board member of the SES Equality and Solidarity Association and a sustainability consultant and advocate, evaluated the World Bank’s 2024-2030 gender strategy.
“Accelerating equality is an urgent priority. We cannot end poverty on a livable planet with half the population excluded from reaching their full potential,” underscores the World Bank Group’s focus on gender equality as essential for sustainable development.
This perspective aligns with the WBG’s goals shared during the 2024 Annual Meetings of the World Bank Group (WBG) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), held from October 21-26 in Washington, D.C., highlighted that empowering women and improving their access to digital resources, financial support, and social safety nets are critical steps to ending poverty globally.
The emphasis on “accelerating equality” reflects the urgency to address gender disparities, ensuring that women can fully participate in economic and social activities, which, in turn, strengthens overall development efforts and supports environmental sustainability.
On gender, the Bank Group took the first steps toward implementing the Gender Strategy 2030, announcing a set of actions and concrete goals that aim to boost economic opportunities for more women. These include a set of targets around broadband, social protection, and access to capital for women.
By 2030, the Bank Group aims to enable
- 300 million more women to use broadband, support, a move intended to boost economic opportunities and connectivity for women globally.
- 250 million with social protection programs, which are seen as essential to enhancing financial security and resilience against economic shocks. and
- Provide 80 million more women and women-led businesses with capital. which will help foster entrepreneurship and economic growth in developing countries
Achieving these goals will unlock essential services, such as finance and education and job opportunities, for women while addressing a critical constraint to entrepreneurship.
The WBG Gender Strategy 2024-30 intends to support foundational wellbeing, economic participation and women’s leadership to lead in order to develop outcomes in;
- Progress in ending all forms of gender-based violence
- Stronger and more resilient human capital
- More and better jobs, including jobs of the future
- Greater ownership and use of economic assets
- Wider access to and use of enabling services
- Advances in women’s participation in decision-making
Progress toward the goals should be monitored in parallel with the framework and implementation. Only under this condition may hope flourish.
For more details, you can visit the World Bank’s Gender Strategy 2024-2030 overview.
Highlights from the ‘Women Transforming the World’ Panel which took place on October 24, 2024:
Speakers
– Ajay Banga, President, The World Bank Group
– Anneliese Dodds, Minister of State for Development and Women and Equalities, United Kingdom
– Adebayo Olawale Edun, Minister of Finance, Nigeria
– Nadia Fettah, Minister of Economy and Finance, Morocco
– Sandra Ablamba Johnson, Minister, General Secretary at the Presidency, Togo
– Moderator: Shakuntala Santhiran, International broadcast journalist
At the Panel’s opening speech, Ajay Banga, President, The World Bank Group mentioned about WBG’s new 2030 targets which included enabling 300 million more women to use broadband – unlocking services, education, and job opportunities, supporting 250 million women with social protection programs, focusing on the poorest and most vulnerable, and provide 80 million more women and women-led businesses with capital, to boost entrepreneurship.
Ajay Banga said this was critical as women employ women. In order to achieve on these, he stressed on the need to get all stakeholders – financial partners, country partners – together.
“So she can learn,” “So she can work,” and “So she can thrive” was reflected as a central message in the World Bank Group’s Gender Strategy for 2024-2030, emphasizing empowering women and girls to participate fully in society.
WBG data mentioned to indicate that if women were employed at the same rate as men, gdp per capita would increase by 20%.
Other highlights from the panel are;
Togo – Sandra Ablamba Johnson, Minister, General Secretary at the Presidency, Togo Discussed the importance of education and financial inclusion by bringing forward Nana Benz, 1st billionaire from Togo , who dominated textile industry between 1968-1990s.
Anneliese Dodds, Minister of State for Development and Women and Equalities, United Kingdom, added some serious consideration for;
- Control over resources
- Legal protection for women
- Quality jobs for women
- Unpaid care work to be shared between men-women
- Law protects women, at work and at home
- Healthy fertility
The Panel ended with an emphasis on ‘Empower women, empower humanity’, leaving all with hop efor years to come.
Gülin Yücel