This article is part of the World Economic Forum’s Intelligence Map on Sustainable Development, which was co-curated by Southern Voice. Explore the map here. 

Women’s economic empowerment is key to inclusive economic development and poverty reduction. That fact is recognized explicitly in the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals – in SDG 5, which calls for achieving gender equality and empowering all women and girls, and in gender-specific benchmarks included in other goals. However, the 2022 SDG Gender Index cited scant progress made on gender equality since the goals were outlined in 2015; more than 25% of the indicators were “far or very far” from 2030 targets. COVID-19 disproportionately impacted women, and even reversed some progress. According to the World Economic Forum’s 2022 Gender Gap Report, it will take 132 years to close the global gender gap. While labour inclusion has increased in recent decades, women still make 77 cents for every dollar men earn, according to UN Women. This has several causes, many arising from social norms that push women into some jobs and away from others. There are more men in STEM-related fields that provide higher incomes, for example. In addition, women disproportionately work in the informal economy, and are more liable to take part-time work (due to domestic obligations).

A disproportionate number of women take care work that brings them in and out of labour markets, making it more difficult to attain senior-level positions. This is just one way in which unequal participation contributes to income inequality, and to greater numbers of women retiring into poverty. Understanding what is behind such gaps requires quality data analysed in enough granular detail to measure lived experiences and real needs. It is essential to look beyond averages to empower all women and girls, by accurately tracking their progress. Significant gaps even within different groups of women arise from intersectionality, or the overlapping of different characteristics that create disadvantages – such as ethnicity, race, disability, or class. However, related data is currently insufficient. Governments and international, national, and civil society organizations around the world, alongside the private sector, have increasingly recognized the need to collect and use disaggregated data – and there are now data coalitions, platforms, and portals to compile and make available more and better information. However, as UN Women has emphasized, despite such efforts much data about women and girls remains incomplete or missing – and where it is missing, women and girls are invisible.

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