Beijing + 10: The World Bank’s Report to the 49th Session of the Commission on the Status of Women

Improving Women’s Lives: World Bank Actions Since Beijing   

The World Bank has addressed gender issues since the 1970s, but the Bank’s emphasis in this area increased following the 1995 Beijing Conference. Today, gender equality is explicitly recognized as essential to achieving the World Bank’s poverty reduction mission. This report is the World Bank’s contribution to the 49^th Session of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women, which will review the implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action and Declaration and the outcome document of the 23^rd Special Session of the General Assembly (Beijing + 5). The report describes the role of the World Bank as a partner in international efforts to promote gender equality and empower women. The World Bank’s own strategy is to mainstream gender issues into its work. This report links the World Bank’s work directly to the Beijing Platform for Action by illustrating how, by assisting countries’ own efforts to advance gender equality and improve women’s and girls’ lives, the World Bank supports the goals outlined in the Platform for Action and helps countries secure a better economic future. 

• United Nations Commission on the Status of Women website
• The World Bank Gender Mainstreaming Strategy Paper

The main section of this report describes World Bank activities that have furthered the Beijing Platform for Action’s goals. The next section outlines global trends in improving girls’ and women’s lives, and highlights some areas in need of further action. Subsequent sections describe World Bank projects that have helped to improve the lives of women and girls, the Bank’s analytical work on gender issues, and enabling institutional changes that have helped the Bank to increase attention to gender issues in its work. The final section discusses the way forward.