The latest Women, Business and the Law study shows that despite decades of progress in drafting gender\u2011equality legislation, most governments have failed to implement or enforce these laws effectively.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
For the first time, the report evaluates not just legislation but also the systems that enforce these rights. While the average country scores 67 out of 100 for the adequacy of its laws, the enforcement score drops sharply to 53. When examining whether countries have the institutions, budgets and services required to implement those rights, the score falls even further to 47.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Only 4% of the world\u2019s women live in economies that offer near\u2011full legal equality. World Bank Chief Economist Indermit Gill said weak enforcement reveals the extent of the barriers still holding women back from contributing fully to economic growth.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cThese numbers reflect huge opportunity gaps,\u201d he said, warning that countries are undermining their own development by failing to unlock women\u2019s economic potential.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The report assesses 10 areas shaping women\u2019s participation in the economy, including workplace protections, entrepreneurship, safety from violence, access to childcare, asset ownership and retirement security. Safety is identified as one of the most serious shortcomings. Norman Loayza, Director of the World Bank\u2019s Policy Indicators Group, said, \u201cWe have only a third of the safety laws we need, and even then, enforcement is failing 80% of the time.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The report also highlights major barriers to women entrepreneurs. Although women can legally start businesses on the same terms as men in most countries, only half of the economies ensure equal access to credit, leaving female entrepreneurs locked out of essential financing.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Childcare remains a critical gap. Fewer than half of the 190 economies assessed provide financial or tax support for childcare, and only 30% have the necessary policies to ensure affordability and quality. In low\u2011income countries, just 1% of required childcare support systems are in place.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Lead Author Tea Trumbic said ensuring equal opportunity is \u201can economic must\u2011have\u201d, especially as 1.2 billion young people, half of them girls, prepare to enter the workforce over the next decade.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
–WorldBankGroup\/ChannelAfrica–<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":14203,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"news-type":[44],"class_list":["post-24193","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","news-type-finance","entry"],"acf":{"short_description":"Laws intended to guarantee equal economic opportunities for women are, on average, only half\u2011enforced worldwide, leaving women with barely two\u2011thirds of the legal rights enjoyed by men, according to a new World Bank report released on Tuesday. ","published_date":null,"news_description":"Laws intended to guarantee equal economic opportunities for women are, on average, only half\u2011enforced worldwide, leaving women with barely two\u2011thirds of the legal rights enjoyed by men, according to a new World Bank report released on Tuesday. ","form_embed":"","author":"","image_caption":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/24193","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/24193\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26949,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/24193\/revisions\/26949"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14203"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24193"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"news-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-type?post=24193"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}