The World Bank Group Gender Strategy Update (2024-30): Accelerating Equality and Empowerment for All is under preparation and will shape the directions of WBG engagement and support through 2030. The goal of the Update is to establish a clear direction for WBG’s public and private sector work on gender, drawing on lessons from progress to date, changes in the global economy and emerging challenges and opportunities.
The Update provides a framework for World Bank Group support to accelerate equality and empowerment for all, and supports governments, the private sector, and civil society on scalable, adaptable solutions that help women, men, and gender minorities reach their full potential. To achieve this, in addition to technical approaches, changing mindsets and mobilizing collective action is often needed to advance gender equality and empowerment.
Building on the World Bank Group (WBG) Gender Strategy (2016-23): Gender Equality, Poverty Reduction and Inclusive Growth, the Update pursues four gender outcomes and leverages the synergies across these outcomes: building and protecting human capital; creating more and better jobs; expanding ownership, control, and management of assets; and enhancing women’s leadership, voice, and agency.
The Update will underscore the role of gender equality and empowerment in addressing global development priorities, including reducing poverty and food insecurity; raising economic growth and productivity; addressing climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution; and finding pathways out of fragility and conflict.
This Update presents an opportunity for the World Bank Group to listen and learn from stakeholders’ experiences, to identify and discuss opportunities around new and innovative ways of enhancing gender equality and empowerment, and to understand potential challenges and exchange ideas and build consensus on the directions going forward. The Strategy Update will be shaped by an extensive and inclusive engagement with public and private sector clients, partners, and other key stakeholders, and will be formally launched in 2024.