## IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde Announces Specific Actions on Women’s Economic Empowerment

_IMF News, September 22, 2016_

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## Bibliographic details
- Published: September 22, 2016

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### Summary of announcement
- Press Release No. 16/420
- Date: September 22, 2016
- Ms. Christine Lagarde, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund, issued a statement at the conclusion of her participation in a United Nations High-Level Panel on “Women Economic Empowerment” on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.
- Key stated objective: “The IMF will continue to work with its member countries to ensure that women play a larger role in the economy in order to boost growth, reduce income inequality, and support economic diversification.”
- Media contact: PRESS OFFICER: Wafa Amr; Phone: +1 202 623-7100; Email: MEDIA@IMF.org

### Five IMF commitments (specific actions announced)
- “We pledge to further strengthen our policy advice and analysis to support female labor force participation.”
- “We promise to continue our work to address gender data gaps, with the aim of supporting the financial inclusion of women.”
- “We commit to push forward our work on gender budgeting, including through policy advice to member countries.”
- “We will build on recent research with the objective of helping to break down the discriminatory effects of legal restrictions.”
- “We commit to undertake further research on the links between gender inequality and growth, and the impact of policies on gender inequality.”

### Rationale and background
- Observations on labor markets:
  - “Despite significant progress in recent decades, labor markets across the world remain divided along gender lines.”
  - “Female labor force participation has remained lower than male participation, gender wage gaps are high, and women are overrepresented in the informal sector and among the poor.”
  - “In many countries, legal restrictions persist which constrain women from developing their full economic potential.”
- Economic case for women’s economic participation:
  - “While equality between men and women is in itself an important development goal, women's economic participation is also a part of the growth and stability equation.”
  - “In rapidly aging economies, higher female labor force participation can boost growth by mitigating the impact of a shrinking workforce.”
  - “Better opportunities for women can also contribute to broader economic development in developing economies, for instance through higher levels of school enrollment for girls.”

### Additional resources
- For further information regarding the IMF’s work on gender issues: http://www.imf.org/external/themes/gender/index.htm
- Multimedia referenced: Video: IMF Takes Action to Close Gender Gap

*Press Release No. 16/420 — IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde Announces Specific Actions on Women’s Economic Empowerment — September 22, 2016.*

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## References

- [Christine Lagarde](http://www.imf.org/external/np/omd/bios/cl.htm)
- [Press Releases](https://www.imf.org/en/news/searchnews)
- [PRESS CENTER](http://presscenter.imf.org/)
- [http://www.imf.org/external/themes/gender/index.htm](http://www.imf.org/external/themes/gender/index.htm)
- [https://www.imf.org/en/home](https://www.imf.org/en/home)

_Source: https://www.imf.org/en/news/articles/2016/09/22/pr16420-lagarde-announces-specific-actions-on-womens-economic-empowerment_