Cape Town - Globally women are still a sobering 132 years away from achieving gender equality.
This is according to the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) latest Global Gender Gap Report.
“Women have historically shouldered a disproportionate share of care responsibilities.
“What happened during and since the pandemic is that care infrastructure broke down globally, leaving many women unable to return to the workforce,” said Silja Baller, head of diversity, equity and inclusion at the WEF.
“International Women’s Day 2023 (celebrated yesterday) comes at a critical juncture for gender equality, where we risk falling even further behind unless concrete and concerted steps are taken across the world.”
According to UN and World Bank estimates, women’s health is still dramatically underfunded and under-researched, which fuels the already significant health, social and economic disparities across the world.
“For too long, women and their families have been left to deal with unmet health needs and the physical, economic and social consequences this has,” said Shyam Bishen, head of health and health care at the WEF.
“Women’s health has been seen as their individual issue – and this needs to change.” Closing the gender gap and empowering women were key priorities at the WEF, they said.
“Our Centre for the New Economy and Society (CNES) complements its annual Global Gender Gap Report with a growing portfolio of action initiatives and leadership communities.
“For instance our Gender Parity Accelerators – already present in 13 countries – aim to hard-wire gender parity in the world of work and showcase the tremendous economic boon that parity could bring.
“In 2023-2024, CNES will also host the Global Future Council on the Future of the Care Economy to explore care models.”
Cape Times