World Bank Gender Thematic Policy Notes Series
15 items available
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Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity (SOGI) Inclusion and Gender Equality
2023-08, Cortez, Clifton, Rana, Trishna R., Nasir, Rudaba Zehra, Arzinos, John Ioannis
This note provides an overview of the situation of LGBTI people globally and why addressing discrimination against them and promoting their inclusion make economic sense as well as being the right thing to do. It lays out the authorizing environment for SOGI inclusion at the World Bank and highlights promising practices of SOGI inclusion, including in data generation and operations from the World Bank and public and private sector partners. The note highlights opportunities to advance SOGI inclusion through the three strategic objectives of the World Bank’s Gender Strategy update, namely ending gender-based violence and elevating human capital, expanding and enabling economic opportunities, and engaging women as leaders. The World Bank and development partners can also better integrate SOGI inclusion in their work on gender data generation, evaluation and learning, policy and institutional reforms, and capacity building.
Closing Gender Gaps in Earnings
2023-03-27, Sahay, Abhilasha
Gender gaps in earnings persist across all regions. For every dollar men make, women make 77 cents. Closing this gap can lead to sizeable gains for economies - an estimated 160 trillion dollars in global gross domestic product (GDP) per capita. A multitude of factors contributes to this gap and this note sheds light on some of the key drivers. Effective evidence-backed policy options to close the earnings gap include providing information on work opportunities and returns to employment, training in socio-emotional skills, imparting sector-specific technical skills to address occupational segregation and adopting pay-transparency laws. The World Bank Group actively supports countries to boost women’s access to better, high-quality jobs through development policy lending, advisory and analytical work, and supporting reforms to address constraining contextual factors. This note examines an array of policy options that are effective or show promise in closing gender gaps in earnings and offers some key takeaways.
Increasing Access to Technology for Inclusion
2023-02, Aranda Jan, Clara, Qasim, Qursum
Digital technology has introduced innovative business models and changed how society operates. Through digital technology, access to services can be increased and more people can be reached, particularly those from underserved groups, such as women, people in rural communities and persons with disabilities. Yet, gaps in access to digital technology deepen inequalities and have social costs and economic implications. Countries have lost out on $1 trillion in GDP due to the digital exclusion of women (Alliance for Affordable Internet, 2021). Grounded in examples extracted from research and World Bank Group operations with client countries and clients in the private sector, this policy note presents interventions that aim to close the gaps in digital inclusion. These examples demonstrate that the public and private sectors have significant roles to play in ensuring digital technology reaches women, aligns with their needs, and strengthens their economic empowerment. This policy note provides impetus for the World Bank Group to continue strengthening its work on the digital inclusion of women and underserved groups.