World Bank Report Says -Investing in Women Makes Economic Sense and Increases Social Enterprise

The World Bank published its 'World Development Report 2012' this September, 2011. It insists that creating better opportunities for women and girls by increasing social enterprise development makes good economic sense. That is, investing in women is an economically sound strategy. If women and girls were given access to all tiers of education, land rights, more opportunities to enter the job market and more control over their lives, particularly in respect of family planning, then the overall development prospects would improve for all.

The Report acknowledges that the world has made significant progress in narrowing gender gaps in education, health and labour markets over the past 25 years. Yet it raises a number of 'sticky' issues that need to be addressed such as health, education, discrimination in the workplace and lack of rights in the home - all which hamper social enterprise. High maternal and child mortality rates still persist in countries that have made huge economic progress, such as India and China. It flags that though women represent more than 40% of the global workforce, they are still likelier than men to be employed in low-wage jobs because the responsibilities of raising children and looking after the home continues to be their duty.

The pay gap between men and women remains stubbornly wide in many countries, including the wealthier states. Justin Yifu Lin, World Bank Chief Economist and Senior Vice-President for Development Economics, says "The main message of the Report is that gender equality matters for social enterprise development and policy-making. Blocking women and girls from getting the skills and earnings to succeed in a globalised world is not only wrong, but also economically harmful. Sharing the fruits of growth and globalisation equally between men and women is essential to meeting key development goals."

Sadly, the Report found that the worst disparity between the sexes is the rate at which girls and women die in relation to boys and men in low-and middle-income countries. For every woman who dies in childbirth in Sweden, 1000 women die in Afghanistan, 815 in Somalia, 495 in Nigeria, and 122 in Pakistan. Nearly four million women go missing each year in developing countries; of this number, around two-fifths of girls are never born, because the preference for sons remains ingrained in some societies and sex selection has increased due to rapid income growth.

There is still a lot to be done, from reducing the high number of deaths among women and girls, to closing the gender gaps in education and improving maternal healthcare as well as access to safe water and better sanitation. Fundamentally, women need to be given more say within their homes and communities. We all need to prevent the gender stereotypes from filtering through to future generations; only then will women in these countries really have a chance to be the women they were born to be...

Photo Credit: World Bank Photo Collection