Gender Parity

The world must accelerate progress on closing the gender gap. How?

A nation’s growth depends, among other factors, on whether and how it educates and integrates its talent. Women make up half of the potential workforce available in any economy, and the efficient use of this talent pool is an important factor for growth, prosperity and competitiveness.

While nearly 96% of the health gender gap and 93% of the education gender gap in educational attainment have been closed globally, only about 60% of the economic participation gap and only 21% of the political empowerment gap have been closed.

There is also strong business case for gender diversity. Companies with top quartile representation of women in executive committees tend to perform better than companies with no women. And women’s integration into political decision-making has been shown to increase representation for broader segments of society and to decrease income inequality. Closing gender gaps and leveraging the wider economic and societal benefits of gender parity requires a concerted effort between businesses, governments and civil society.

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