Gender

Gender inequality slows economic growth and increases the difficulty of overcoming poverty. Women’s empowerment is especially important for determining a country’s demographic trends—trends that affect its economic success and environmental sustainability. The World Bank views the third Millennium Development Goal—to promote gender equality and empower women—as a central component to its overall mission to reduce poverty and stimulate economic growth.

The Gender Unit of the Africa Region has turned to the challenge of translating these insights into a systematic integration of gender into Regional operational work. Its priority areas are (a) economic policy; (b) indicators and statistics; (c) country gender assessments and country environmental and sector work; (d) HIV/AIDS; (e) infrastructure; and (f) law.

For more information, please refer to the Overview and Sector Strategy and work program of the Africa Region Gender Unit.