Building the Evidence on Inclusive Growth and Job Creation in the Western Balkans: A Gender Lens

Event Presentation (PDF)

This program was aimed at strengthening the knowledge base and evidence on gender disparities in access to economic opportunities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, FYR Macedonia, Kosovo and Serbia, and work has been carried out on various dimensions, including skills, access to finance, child care and economic impact of gender gaps.

Under this program, the World Bank has conducted:

• 5 firm-level data collected, covering  3,200 thousand firms in 4 countries the region
• 2 individual survey data collected, covering 7,000 individuals in 2 countries in the region
• 23 policy notes, papers or reports prepared
• 10 consultations, events or training conducted

These outputs contribute to building the evidence on the multiple barriers and disincentives to work that women face in the region, related to: skills, access to productive inputs, child and elder care services, labor regulations, attitudes and social norms, and coordination in policymaking.  

The program emphasizes that:

• Raising women’s economic participation is not a ‘zero-sum game’. There is much to gain from ensuring equality in access to economic opportunities.
• There is an important role for evaluation and policy testing, including documenting failures.
• Policy actions that tackle multiple barriers are needed to break the negative circle of low female labor market attachment and prominence of the household/care provider role for women.
• The more we know, the more effective policy can be.