Speaking at a workshop on the gender approach and inequalities, held on the sidelines of the conference held by Morocco's Central Bank (Bank Al-Maghrib) in partnership with the IMF and the IMF Economic Review, Sahay said that this topic is of great importance as gender inequalities are increasingly growing around the world, which is why it is necessary to include the gender approach in each strategy or public policy.
These inequalities are mainly reflected in access to education, health, and financing, which leads to a great difference in opportunities between men and women, she stressed.
Referring to women's low economic participation in the MENA region (Middle East and North Africa) which is estimated at only 30%, the expert attributed this situation to several factors, topped by the difficulty of access to finance and socio-cultural factors.
To overcome this, it is important for women to open up to new professions, especially in the digital field that does not require many financial resources, she suggested, adding that access to women's economic rights would increase economic growth and the gross domestic product by nearly 15%.
The IMF is continuously working to improve the situation of women in vulnerable situations, first by collecting data and then by developing appropriate strategies for the full empowerment of women at all levels, Sahay said.
The conference brings together public sector leaders from central banks and ministries of finance, senior officials from international organizations and experts from academia, and comes ahead of the Annual Meetings of the World Bank Group and the IMF, to be held in Marrakech in October 2023.