Achieving gender equality is impossible without women’s equal representation in business leadership.
As the only IFC initiative solely focused on women business leaders, WBBL works across sectors to foster diverse and gender-inclusive business leadership and accelerate the pace women ascend to corporate board and executive positions.
WBBL’s work underpins one of the three strategic objectives of the World Bank Gender Strategy 2024-2030: engaging women as leaders. It also aligns with IFC’s mission to create markets and opportunities through growing the private sector and best environmental, social, and governance (ESG) practices. Research has shown that more women in leadership positively correlate with higher ESG standards, leading to improved business performance and inclusive economic growth.
Statistics
Globally, women hold only 19.7 percent of board seats, 6.7 percent of board chair, 5 percent of CEO, and 15.7 percent of CFO positions1.
Companies with greater board gender diversity are 60 percent more likely to reduce the intensity of energy consumption, 39 percent more likely to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and 46 percent more likely to reduce water use2.
1 Deloitte. 2022. “Women in the Boardroom: A Global Perspective.” Seventh edition.
2 FP Analytics. 2022. “Women as Levers of Change.”
Priority Areas
Recent Videos
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