Clearing the Path for Women to Work Can Bring Prosperity to South Asia

Across South Asia, success stories of working women abound. Yet, alongside these stories, lies a persistent and confounding statistic: South Asia has one of the lowest female labor force participation rates in the world. Only 32 percent of working-age women are in the workforce compared to 77 percent of men, per the World Bank’s latest South Asia Development Update: Women, Jobs and Growth.  

South Asia has witnessed strong economic growth over the past three decades, along with remarkable progress in achieving gender parity in education and stronger legal protections for women. But this has not led to gender parity in the employment of women to the levels seen in the vast majority of other emerging market and developing economies. In fact, many women drop out of the labor force entirely, especially after marriage.

Women: South Asia’s Untapped Opportunity

The South Asia Development Update finds that raising female labor force participation rates in the region to those of men could increase regional incomes per capita by up to 51 percent. This outcome cannot be ignored if the region wants to reach its goal of achieving high-income status in the next three decades.

However, there are many barriers that stand in the way to women’s employment—the availability of quality child and elder care services, safe transport, access to training, a dearth of jobs outside agriculture, small exports and services sectors which usually employ more women, and access to finance to name a few. But it is also undeniable that when their paths are cleared and they are empowered to work, South Asian women thrive. Like the trailblazers below, women across the region are overcoming barriers and boosting the productivity of economies.  

In India, safe transport for women is good business

Runu Hazarika owns a business operating a Bhutbhuti—a small traditional boat used for transportation across the Brahmaputra River in Assam, India.

Runu was able to establish a successful business on the Assam waterways, thanks to the recommendations of a World Bank study on mainstreaming gender into transportation sector design, which was supported by the South Asia Regional Trade Facilitation Program (SARTFP). Part of the World Bank’s Assam Inland Water Transport project, this study recommended installing gender-inclusive terminals and ferries, including dedicated toilets for women, well-lit spaces, closed-circuit television cameras, and public address systems. These improvements not only made it possible for women to comfortably own and operate water transport vessels, but also promoted safer travel for women along these inland waterways. Ridership and usage of ferries in Assam increased from 1 million to 2 million passengers in 2019, with an average of 27 percent women users in 2022.

A World Bank study found that for many women across South Asia, stepping out of the house involves significant risks, which imposes restrictions on women’s mobility and hinders women’s empowerment. By upgrading her boats to better accommodate women, Runu not only grew her business, but she also cleared the path for more women to travel safely. “I am now earning a living, and also serving my community,” Runu proudly shares.

In Bangladesh, new skills and childcare unlock opportunities

Like Runu, Halima struggled to make ends meet for her family in Bangladesh after losing her husband. With help from the World Bank financed Western Economic Corridor & Regional Enhancement (WeCARE) Program, Halima learned new skills in road safety management and became one of 795 women employed by the local engineering department.

In Halima’s case, the availability of childcare facilities allowed her to better balance her household and work responsibilities.  Halima, like the other 91 percent of women employed under WeCARE, was able to meet her day-to-day expenses. 

“I don’t have to reach out to people for help anymore,” Halima says. “I now have a small piece of land, where I can cultivate rice….”

In Nepal, women are empowered through networks

Maya Gurung owns a cardamom fiber business in Eastern Nepal where opportunities for establishing value chains for raw material and agricultural products are not accessible to women due to limited access to credit and modern processing methods, and lack of bargaining power.

However, Maya is not only a business owner, but she also collaborates with local governments and municipalities to train women in making yarn and weaving sustainable products, earning her an additional $60 per day.

To strengthen women’s entrepreneurship, the World Bank, along with SARTPF funding, launched the Business, Enterprise and Employment Support (BEES) Network dedicated to empowering South Asian producers, artisans, and entrepreneurs like Maya. Networks like BEES, SARTFP, and WePOWER foster knowledge sharing, collective action, and advocacy on women’s economic empowerment so that successful interventions can be scaled up to lift women out of poverty and into the workforce.

“I am happy to see that the role played by women in cardamom value chains is being recognized,” Maya says. “We thought that the traders and middlemen did not understand our problems, but now it is good to see that they are being sensitized and are responsive to our issues.”

In Sri Lanka, women are leaders in the energy sector

Lanka Perera side-stepped mid-career stagnation after working for ten years at the Ceylon Electricity Board. She picked up specialized leadership and technical training in energy management through the World Bank’s WePower SAR-100 training program. The energy industry in the South Asia Region has low female representation of between 3 percent to 25 percent.

“The SAR-100 training helped me gather new perspectives, and the collaborations with fellow engineers and trainers were very helpful,” Lanka explains. “It is like a constant support group.”

Shifting Mindsets, Driving Reforms

One of the challenges across South Asia is driving change in mindset and traditional norms so that women are afforded equal opportunities in the workforce. South Asian countries have some of the most conservative gender attitudes in the world, with 70 percent of the population expressing opposition to women working outside the home. Further, once married , the participation of South Asian women in the workforce drops by 12 percent, even before they have children.

While there is no single solution to increase the number of working women, one thing’s for sure: For continued, sustainable economic growth, it is critical that South Asia continues to prioritize actions that bring and keep women in the workforce. This will require making gender equity a central consideration in various areas, whether through childcare services, empowering women through cross-border and regional initiatives, spurring growth in exports and services, or providing safe transportation services.

Maya, Lanka, and their peers’ experiences show that women who work not only fulfill their personal ambitions, but they also contribute to communities and boost economies. Let us #clearherpath and get more women into South Asia’s workforce – it is the right thing to do and it is smart economics.