Amina Mohammed: Gender equality will add $30trn to GDP annually

Amina Mohammed, deputy secretary general of the United Nations (UN), says investing in gender equality will add over $30 trillion to global gross domestic product (GDP) per year.

Speaking at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) meetings in Washington, Mohammed said it makes business sense to add women to the global work force, but adds that those women must also be given the right education.

“Investing in gender equality will bring an economic dividend of over $30 trillion a year to GDP,” Mohammed said.

“It makes good business sense, there is an economic dividend to opening up the space for women, and not women at just one level, but at all levels.

“Incentivising the education, because the thing here is; even if you get an education, what kind of education is it? What kind of skillset are you bringing into the work place?

“At the UN…with the best women in the world, we can’t find the kind of women to fill certain positions, because those skillsets are not there, and that goes back to knocking on the door of  education.”

She said the world and the UN is a work in progress for the inclusion of women in the work force.

“I think we are a work in progress, a really big challenge we have now, is how we put this into national plans, incentivise this for business, we have to open up that space to younger people, younger women and again to look at the other barriers that we face.”

Christine Lagarde, who was also on the panel with Mohammed said Rwanda is the best country in Africa for female inclusion, while Canada is about the best in the world for gender parity.