On 08 March 2023, the United Nations and its allies celebrated International Women’s Day under the theme “DigitALL: Innovation and technology for gender equality.” The world has seen immense propensity for gender diversity and inclusion and one faculty this is very evident, is in the labor markets which are key determinants for productivity and economic growth. Despite a male dominated world, the advent of women taking up top jobs is rising fast with good examples such as the European Central Bank led by Christines Lagarde and the United States Treasury Secretary (Former US Federal Reserve Chief) led by Janet Yellen. The world continues to see other top public and private sector jobs at the helm of women.
Speaking in an interview with Cable Network News televisions Poppy Harlow on IWD, International Monetary Fund Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said gender equality is good economics and that if women were at par with men in the labor markets, global gross domestic product would soar by 20%.
“Labor market participation of women has gone up but is still below labour market participation of men and as a result the world is still losing out on growth potential as society gets poorer,” she said.
Having more women in positions of authority bring more diversity in decision making whose result is better decision making. Today only 5% of CEOs of big companies are women and the world would clearly like to see more of this.
On the current state of the global environment, the IMF boss lauded the resilience of the labor markets in Europe and US and the speed at which international markets freed themselves from dependence on Russian oil. However Geogieva advised the US Fed to stay on course with their monetary actions, be data dependent, continue to drive inflation downwards a path which could take longer than anticipated. The IMF boss acknowledged the narrow path to inflation avoidance and was wary of the other headwinds breeding uncertainty in already uncertain times such as those central to the US economy around congress and its debt ceiling decisions. It is imperative that these issues are addressed as they could culminate in global financial crises if not attended to adequately.
Asked about whether the world was sleep walking into a cold war in relation to the Russo – Ukrainian war, Georgieva stated that Ukraine was not only fighting for its existence but for the rule of law in the world without which it is difficult to imagine a prosperous society. “We have to be concerned about the direction we are taking as a global community and a fragmented world is a poorer world and one that is less secure,” she said
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