Promoting women's economic empowerment is increasingly seen as an important driving force behind economic growth and the fight against poverty. Women's economic participation as entrepreneurs, employees, and leaders is recognized as a measure of a country's economic viability and dynamism. The...

The themes of the 2006 Global Economic Prospects (GEP) are international remittances and migration, their economic consequences, and how policies can increase their role in reducing poverty. The GEP explores the gains and losses from international migration from the perspective of developing...

The 2012 report recognized that expanding women's agency - their ability to make decisions and take advantage of opportunities is key to improving their lives as well as the world. This report represents a major advance in global knowledge on this critical front. The vast data and thousands of...

The report is organized around three chapters, in addition to this overview, each one dealing with an excluded group: Scheduled Tribe (ST), Scheduled Caste (SC), and women. The objective is to provide a diagnostic of how the three excluded groups under analysis have fared along various...

In the past 50 years women's legal status has improved all over the world. But many laws still make it difficult for women to fully participate in economic life whether by getting jobs or starting businesses. Discriminatory rules bar women from certain jobs, restrict access to capital for...

This study examines the gender profile of the Russian Federation through a comprehensive review of the current literature (1248 publications on gender issues throughout the transition decade) on the conditions of women and men and on the gender disparities in a number of indicators. The report...

There is compelling evidence of the importance of gender equality for poverty reduction and sustainable growth. So it should come as no surprise that most development actors-international agencies, bilateral donors, and most developing countries, have an official policy for promoting gender...

A main goal of this study is to determine the variables responsible for the lower formality of women-owned businesses. The companion study (the World Bank 2007a) shows that Bolivia's informal sector is the largest in Latin America by many definitions and measures. It also provides a rationale...

Female Genital Mutilation or Cutting (FGM/C) is a customary practice indigenous to 28 African countries and is also reported among African immigrants in countries in Europe, North America, Australia, and New Zealand. FGM/C is also found in some Muslim communities in the highlands of India. The...

Women's contributions to poverty reduction, economic growth, and private sector development are increasingly recognized globally. A growing amount of research demonstrates the link between women's empowerment and societal well-being. Yet research also indicates that woman's economic...