OVERVIEW

Women’s economic empowerment is a pre-requisite for inclusive and equitable economic growth. Women around the world are resilient and resourceful economic agents, overcoming persistent, gender-based barriers to advance the health, education, and economic security of their families. Evidence shows that women’s full participation in the economy drives better performing and more resilient businesses and supports economic growth and wider development goals for nations. Every day, women demonstrate they can build informal and formal businesses out of very little capital, create networks to maximize limited resources, and shoulder disproportionate care-taking responsibilities, which often include cooking, fetching water, growing food, cleaning, and caring for children, the sick, and the elderly. Women succeed in spite of laws, policies, social norms, and institutions that hold them back. This policy brief examines opportunities to create an enabling environment for women to thrive economically.

French Policy Brief: Download PDF