IFC/World Bank Summit highlights reforms needed to advance economic participation, legal equality for women in Middle East and North Africa

IFC/World Bank Summit highlights reforms needed to advance economic participation, legal equality for women in Middle East and North Africa

Cairo, Egypt: IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, and the World Bank today hosted a summit bringing together government, judicial, private sector, and civil society leaders in Cairo to discuss legal reforms and other policy support needed to advance women’s economic participation and legal equality in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA).

According to the World Bank, the MENA region has one of the lowest women labor force participation rates in the world at only 18.4 percent, highlighting gender inequalities in economic security, health, and safety. While the region has implemented nearly 200 reforms to expand women’s rights, according to a 2023 World Bank Group study, the gender gap remains wide.

Speakers at the summit highlighted the need for continued legal and public policy reforms, judicial interventions, and programs to close the gender gap and address gender-based violence and harassment. They also reiterated the need for better corporate practices, including parental leave reforms, support for women entrepreneurs, equal pay, and removing restrictions on access to finance and childcare.

“The economic rationale for women’s participation in the workforce is clear and indisputable,” said Ramit Nagpal, IFC Vice President and General Counsel. “We need women at the table – as leaders, entrepreneurs,