Publication: Paving the Way for Women’s Economic Inclusion in the Gulf Cooperation Council
Loading...
Published
2016-02
ISSN
Date
2016-06-06
Author(s)
Editor(s)
Abstract
This engagement note in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) aims to identify entry points that respond to the strategic goals and country development priorities announced by GCC member states. This note provides an overview of the recent progress and key economic challenges facing women in GCC countries of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. The note builds on GCC country priorities and aims to support ongoing governmental efforts toward economic diversification and fostering knowledge-based economies. All six countries have developed national development plans that stress the importance of moving away from the heavy reliance on hydrocarbons and toward investing in human capital through quality education and strategic training in productive sectors such as science and technology.
Link to Data Set
Citation
“World Bank Group. 2016. Paving the Way for Women’s Economic Inclusion in the Gulf Cooperation Council. © World Bank. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/24419 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”
Digital Object Identifier
Associated URLs
Associated content
Other publications in this report series
Journal
Journal Volume
Journal Issue
Collections
Related items
Showing items related by metadata.
Publication The Jobs Agenda for the Gulf Cooperation Council Countries(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2018-04)The economies of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) grew several folds over the past decades, making impressive improvements in key development indicators, supported by massive investments in extractive industries. Real gross domestic product (GDP) annual growth reached 5.1 percent during the 2000-2012 period, with hydrocarbons accounting for almost 90 percent of revenues and 80 percent of exports during the same period. Economic growth has not translated into sufficient employment creation and optimal job outcomes for GCC nationals outside of the natural resources industry. Reforming public sector employment to increase the productivity and meritocracy of jobs for GCC citizens entails three key recommendations. First, while public sector pay should remain competitive to attract highly skilled workers, it needs to correspond with actual productivity levels. Second, introducing a meritocratic system and formal performance management tools in the public sector will increase competition among public sector employees and potentially increase productivity. Finally, in some of the larger GCC economies, rationalization of recruitment of citizens into the public sector may be necessary. This note elaborates on this line of reasoning and highlights how the World Bank can assist GCC governments in achieving their stated objectives of increasing citizens’ access to more and productive employment and supporting the shift towards a knowledge-based economy.Publication Jordan - Resolving Jordan's Labor Market Paradox of Concurrent Economic Growth and High Unemployment(Washington, DC, 2008-12-23)Reducing unemployment is a top priority of the Government of Jordan, as expressed in its principal strategies, "we are all Jordan" and the national agenda. Consistent with those strategies and with the recommendations of donors, the Government's approach to reducing unemployment has been to create jobs by attracting investments that promote gross domestic product (GDP) growth. In recent years, Jordan has successfully attracted investment, achieved strong GDP growth, and created many new jobs. This report also recommends actions to further the Government's goal of reducing employment. To accomplish this we cover industrial policy, fiscal policy, regional development, education, and social protection programs. Although this report comments on employment aspects of several policies and programs, truly comprehensive analysis of these policies and programs is beyond its scope. Rather, these findings and recommendations should be considered in the context of ongoing work by the Government, the World Bank, and other donors the various policy and program areas. That work includes analytical work and investments in the areas of: (a) public expenditure, (b) financial sector functioning, (c) investment climate, (d) poverty mapping, and (e) pension reform. It also includes projects in: (a) higher education development, (b) education reform for the knowledge economy, (c) social protection, (d) employer-driven skills development, and (e) regional and local development.Publication A Gender (R)evolution in the Making? Expanding Women's Economic Opportunities in Central America : A Decade in Review(Washington, DC, 2012-01)A Gender Revolution in the Making was produced by the World Bank as a special report on the dichotomy of the economic participation of women in Central America from 1997-2007. Central America made considerable progress during 1997-2006: stronger economic and political stability, overall positive albeit modest economic growth and improvements in socio-economic outcomes. Nonetheless, the panorama for women in the region, and in particular their ability to work and generate income is mixed. Labor force participation of women in Central America remained unchanged over the decade, with one in every two women of working age still not participating economically. This is lower than the rest of Latin America, a region with the lowest labor force participation in the world, although it has improved significantly in recent years. And yet, women in the region have made major advances in closing the gender earnings gaps and increasing their ability to earn income. Women's contribution to overall income generation in Central America rose significantly over the decade. This report aims to identify the factors behind these three trends. However, stagnant labor force participation rates for women contrasted with narrowing earnings gaps and a greater contribution to overall income apparent in Central America from 1997 to 2006.Publication Ethiopia - The Employment Creation Effects of the Addis Ababa Integrated Housing Program(World Bank, 2009-03-01)Ethiopia's second poverty reduction strategy, the Plan for Accelerated and Sustained Development to End Poverty (PASDEP) outlines a strategy of complementing a continued strong focus on increasing agricultural productivity with an increased emphasis on urban development. In this context it highlights the importance of facilitating accelerated employment generation to address the issue of high levels of urban unemployment. This report is organized as follows: chapter two provides more detailed background information on the program's operation and goals. Chapter three focuses on the methodology for this study, by articulating the key hypotheses tested in this analysis and identifying its limitations. The chapter also describes the main source of information for this study, a purposively collected survey of firms and workers in the construction sector. Chapter four addresses the central issue of this report by providing a snapshot of the beneficiaries of the program, focusing both on firms and workers and reviewing the effects of the program in terms of employment creation, both in static and in dynamic terms. Chapter five provides evidence on the effectiveness of the support offered by the program, and provides some evidence on the general equilibrium effects of the program. Finally, chapter six provides an assessment of the distributional effects of the program through its employment creation effects. Chapter seven reviews the main conclusions emerging from the study and draws the policy implications for the program, particularly in light o f its ongoing scaling up.Publication Botswana Labor Market Signals on Demand for Skills(Washington, DC, 2014-01)Botswana has an official unemployment rate of 17.8 percent. The low labor-intensity of growth is a potential explaining factor for this high level of unemployment. It is thus essential to analyze the role of education and training in the access to employment. This note finds that the role of education has changed under the effect of schooling expansion and persistent unemployment. Labor market institutions appear to have a limited impact on employment and wage levels, while the importance of active labor market programs is growing. This note aims to identify labor market signals that point to demand for specific current and future skills. The note seeks to answer the following questions: does the labor market place a higher premium on workers literacy and numeracy skills, technical skills, or behavioral skills?; is the labor market more in need of secondary or tertiary education graduates?; and will growing economic sectors (for example, tourism) benefit more by increasing the supply of sector-specific skills (for example, through specific training for tour guides and hospitality staff) or general skills (for example, through training of lawyers and accountants who can be absorbed in any sector of the economy)?.This note analyzes the following data and documentation to identify labor market signals in the Botswana economy: government economic growth and diversification strategies; general labor market data; and enterprise and employee surveys.
Users also downloaded
Showing related downloaded files
Publication Kyrgyz Republic Country Climate and Development Report(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2025-11-03)This Country Climate and Development Report (CCDR) on the Kyrgyz Republic aims to support the country’s development goals amid a changing climate. The CCDR considers two policy scenarios up to 2050: the business-as-usual (BAU) and high-growth scenarios. As it quantifies the likely impacts of climate change on the Kyrgyz economy between now and 2050, the report highlights key government actions to best prepare for and adapt to climate impacts (referred to as “with adaptation” measures), with a particular focus on the time horizon up to 2030. The CCDR also outlines a path to net zero emissions by 2050 (referred to as “with mitigation” measures, “decarbonization,” or, simply, “net zero 2050”), highlighting associated development co-benefits.Publication Direct and Indirect Impacts of Transport Mobility on Access to Jobs: Evidence from South Africa(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2025-11-12)Access to jobs is essential for economic growth. In Africa, unemployment rates are notably high. This paper reexamines the relationship between transport mobility and labor market outcomes, with a particular focus on the direct and indirect effects of transport connectivity. As predicted by theory, wages are influenced by the level of commuting deterrence. Generally, higher earnings are associated with longer commute times and/or higher commuting costs. Local accessibility is also important, especially for individuals with time constraints. Both direct and indirect impacts are found to be significant in South Africa, where job accessibility has been challenging since the end of apartheid. For the direct impact, the wage elasticity associated with commuting costs is significant. Returns on commute are particularly high for women. Local accessibility to socioeconomic facilities, such as shops and health services, is also found to have a significant impact, consistent with the concept of mobility of care. To enhance employment, therefore, it is crucial to connect people not only to job locations but also to various socioeconomic points of interest, such as markets and hospitals, in an integrated manner. This integration will enable individuals to spend more time working and commuting longer distances.Publication Taxes, Spending, and Equity: International Patterns and Lessons for Developing Countries(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2025-11-17)Taxes and public spending underpin the basic administration of government and finance the human capital and infrastructure investments needed for economic growth. They can also have a significant and immediate impact on poverty and inequality. The question of how public finance can support longer-term growth objectives while promoting equity has become even more important in recent years, given the high fiscal deficits and debt levels most countries emerged with in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic. These included the increasing cost of debt and the need to restart environmentally sustainable growth while helping households address the learning losses and other social scars caused by the pandemic. This paper examines the global evidence on which households pay which taxes and who benefits from what spending, and critically, the net effect on different households across the income distribution. The aim is to identify the patterns and lessons that emerge for designing progressive fiscal policies. A global dataset of 96 countries is assembled, spanning all regions of the world and all national income levels, grounded in the Commitment to Equity (CEQ) approach to fiscal incidence.Publication Wastewater Treatment and Reuse(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2022-03-31)Small towns in low- and middle-income countries are growing rapidly and struggling to meet the increased demands of wastewater collection and treatment. To avert public health crises and continued environmental degradation, small towns are actively seeking safely managed sanitation solutions, appropriate for their scale, institutional capacity, financial resources, and overarching needs. This document is designed to provide a guide of small-town wastewater treatment processes in order to assist engineers, managers and other stakeholders responsible for wastewater service provision in identifying and selecting appropriate wastewater treatment processes for small towns. This guide is part of a World Bank suite of tools and other material to support World Bank teams and their government counterparts in the planning, design, and implementation of sanitation projects in urbanizing areas. Addressing the specific context of small towns, the format of this guide begins with an introduction of key concepts for a decision maker to understand and then applies a suggested five-step approach to exploring appropriate wastewater treatment technologies, culminating with case studies from three regions applying this approach. It delves into the unique considerations for small-town wastewater treatment and the exploration of corresponding technologies. Before demonstrating the application of the approach, the guide also navigates: (a) factors external to the technologies that define the characteristics and environment of a given small town and that will affect technology choice; and (b) technology-specific information that will ultimately influence decision making. Before embarking on the formal planning and design process, the user is highly encouraged to become familiar with the guide methodology in its entirety while drawing on the principles of the Citywide Inclusive Sanitation approach.Publication Digital Africa(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2023-03-13)All African countries need better and more jobs for their growing populations. "Digital Africa: Technological Transformation for Jobs" shows that broader use of productivity-enhancing, digital technologies by enterprises and households is imperative to generate such jobs, including for lower-skilled people. At the same time, it can support not only countries’ short-term objective of postpandemic economic recovery but also their vision of economic transformation with more inclusive growth. These outcomes are not automatic, however. Mobile internet availability has increased throughout the continent in recent years, but Africa’s uptake gap is the highest in the world. Areas with at least 3G mobile internet service now cover 84 percent of Africa’s population, but only 22 percent uses such services. And the average African business lags in the use of smartphones and computers as well as more sophisticated digital technologies that catalyze further productivity gains. Two issues explain the usage gap: affordability of these new technologies and willingness to use them. For the 40 percent of Africans below the extreme poverty line, mobile data plans alone would cost one-third of their incomes—in addition to the price of access devices, apps, and electricity. Data plans for small- and medium-size businesses are also more expensive than in other regions. Moreover, shortcomings in the quality of internet services—and in the supply of attractive, skills-appropriate apps that promote entrepreneurship and raise earnings—dampen people’s willingness to use them. For those countries already using these technologies, the development payoffs are significant. New empirical studies for this report add to the rapidly growing evidence that mobile internet availability directly raises enterprise productivity, increases jobs, and reduces poverty throughout Africa. To realize these and other benefits more widely, Africa’s countries must implement complementary and mutually reinforcing policies to strengthen both consumers’ ability to pay and willingness to use digital technologies. These interventions must prioritize productive use to generate large numbers of inclusive jobs in a region poised to benefit from a massive, youthful workforce—one projected to become the world’s largest by the end of this century.