## A Global Imperative

_IMF Blog, March 8, 2019_

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**Canonical URL:** [A Global Imperative](https://www.imf.org/en/blogs/articles/2019/03/08/blog-a-global-imperative)

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## Bibliographic details
- Authors: Christine Lagarde
- Published: March 8, 2019

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### Overview
- March 8 marks International Women’s Day and provides a chance to reflect on the struggle for greater gender equality.
- Persistent issues highlighted: sexual harassment and violence; unequal laws; unfairness in the workplace where women are often underemployed, underpaid, and underpromoted.
- Policymakers have a crucial role in designing policies that help women and girls access education, health services, safe transportation, legal protection against harassment, finance, and flexible working arrangements.

### IMF role and recommended policy measures
- The IMF recommends policy measures to member countries and works with many governments to examine how policies affect women.
- The IMF has increased emphasis on women’s empowerment because it is both an ethical imperative and a macroeconomic opportunity tied to stability and inclusive growth.
- Specific areas for policy focus include:
  - Education access
  - Health services
  - Safe transportation
  - Legal protection against harassment
  - Access to finance
  - Flexible working arrangements

### Key findings and empirical results
- If women’s employment equaled men’s, economies would be more resilient and economic growth would be higher.
- New estimates: for the bottom half of countries in the IMF sample in terms of gender inequality, closing the gender gap in employment could increase GDP by an average of 35 percent.
- Of that 35 percent GDP increase, 7–8 percentage points are productivity gains due to gender diversity.
- Corporate governance finding: adding one more woman in a firm’s senior management or corporate board—while keeping the size of the board unchanged—is associated with an 8–13 basis point higher return on assets.
- Banking sector finding: if banks and financial supervisors increased the share of women in senior positions, the banking sector would be more stable.

### Implications and call to action
- The IMF’s 189 member countries face diverse challenges, yet empowering women is presented as a common denominator and a global imperative.
- Achieving greater gender equality advances fairness, diversity, productivity, and inclusive growth—benefiting societies and economies broadly.

*Christine Lagarde, March 8, 2019 — A Global Imperative*

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_Source: https://www.imf.org/en/blogs/articles/2019/03/08/blog-a-global-imperative_