If women were employed at the same rate as men, the global Gross Domestic Product (GDP) would increase by a fifth – from US$106 trillion to US$127 trillion (1). This US$21 trillion increase is more than the combined GDP of the countries in the European Union (US$18.6 trillion).
According to a World Bank report (2), global failure to close the gender employment gap is reducing a country’s GDP by 20 percent on average. The report highlights that three quarters of the total gains of closing this gap would be felt almost immediately, with the rest taking a generation.
On International Women’s Day (8 March) and as global women and disability summits approach, Sightsavers is calling for urgent action to boost women’s access to employment, particularly those with disabilities, who face multiple barriers to financial independence.
Lianna Jones, global technical lead on economic empowerment at Sightsavers said: “Lack of resources and workplace barriers continue to exclude millions of women, particularly those with disabilities from economic opportunities. The combined impact of disability and gender discrimination creates multiple, overlapping barriers that can push women with disabilities into extreme poverty.
“We urge global leaders gathering at the upcoming Commission on the Status of Women (CSW69) in Beijing and the Global Disability Summit (GDS) in Berlin to commit to disability-inclusive approaches that could unlock billions in economic potential while advancing gender equality.”
Sightsavers programmes transform the lives of women with disabilities by targeting the inequalities they face. They work to ensure women have access to health services and supports them to develop skills and confidence to get a job or start a business.
The profound impact that this support can make can be seen in the case of 29-year old Lydia Rosasi who participated in Sightsavers’ IT Bridge Academy in Nairobi. After gaining crucial digital skills through the programme, she secured a position as a public communications officer in the Office of the Kenyan Government
Spokesperson, where she now leads inclusive communication initiatives.
“As a woman with a disability, you face two challenges – the gender bias and the disability bias,” says Lydia. “But the digital skills this programme imparts are long-
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term. Even if anyone took away the job or opportunities, they would never take away those skills from you. And given that we are in a world where the digital revolution is big, that would give any young person, and especially a person with disability, an edge in the marketplace.”