Empowering women and investing in gender equality is essential for economic resilience and growth. To do this, governments need to invest in legal reform, campaigns to challenge social norms, and strong workplace legislation.
The world has seldom been in a tighter spot. Across the globe, extreme weather events are becoming more frequent, with greater economic damage, even in the wealthiest countries. Food insecurity is on the rise — and climate change is making it worse. In 2022, about 2.4 billion people — nearly a third of humanity — lacked year-round access to enough safe and nutritious food, with women and girls bearing the brunt: They account for nearly 60% of people facing severe hunger.
It takes a global economy firing on all cylinders to overcome threats of this magnitude. Today, however, growth is slowing nearly everywhere across the world. By the end of 2024, people in more than 1 out of every 4 developing countries will remain poorer on average than they were on the eve of the COVID-19 pandemic. Yet policymakers in most countries continue to leave a potentially transformative economic force on the sidelines: women.
About the authors
Anna Bjerde
Anna Bjerde is the World Bank’s managing director of operations, overseeing projects in over 130 countries focused on poverty reduction, equitable growth, human development, and climate change, among other key priorities. Prior to this, she served as vice president for Europe and Central Asia, leading the institution’s efforts to steer the region through a series of overlapping global shocks, including the COVID-19 pandemic and the World Bank’s support to Ukraine. An experienced leader with recognized expertise in sustainable infrastructure, she has a strong record of delivering impactful programs across sectors and regions, including Africa and the Middle East.
Indermit Gill
Indermit Gill is chief economist at the World Bank Group and senior vice president for development economics. Before starting this position in September 2022, he served as the Bank’s vice president for equitable growth, finance, and institutions, where he helped shape the bank’s response to the extraordinary series of shocks that have hit developing economies since 2020.
