empowering women by balancing the law - world...
TRANSCRIPT
Empowering Women by Balancing
the Law
To achieve tangible development solutions, women must be included in the conversation. SDGs 5 and 16 call for gender equality and the promotion of peaceful, just, and inclusive societies. Now more than ever, countries must achieve gender equality to thrive and reach their fullest potential.
Millions of women worldwide continue to face barriers due to persisting outdated and unbalanced laws.
Countries are losing US$160 trillion in wealth due to differences in lifetime earnings between men and women.
The high cost of gender inequality is perceived in schools, job opportunities, and in the laws.
THE OFFER
Empowering Women by Balancing the Law (EWBL) is an initiative aiming to contribute towards greater legal gender equality. The initiative will work with pilot countries to identify, address, and revise existing laws that continue to impede women and girls’ voice and agency.
EWBL will respond to pilot countries’ desire to engage in legal reforms and repeal outdated and unbalanced laws that hinder women and girls’ quality of life.
EWBL will partner with countries to transform existing legal frameworks through a three-step process.
Empowering Women by Balancing the Law
ANALYSIS & CONSULTATION
Identify existing outdated and/or unbalanced laws drawing from international norms and conventions as guiding principles.
Measure the socioeconomic cost of existing laws and evaluate options for reform.
Engage in stakeholder consultations to assess findings and identify areas for reform.
CAPACITY BUILDING& OUTREACH
Assist government officials in developing implementation plans for reforms, including outreach to impacted groups.
Support in designing tailored training and best practices to prepare sound implementation and outreach activities. This will target government officials, focus groups, NGOs, and private sector leaders.
Upon request, build tailored training based on best practices to help inform Attorney Generals and relevant officials in legislative drafting according to international norms.
EVALUATION & LESSONS LEARNED
Identify and assess outcomes of reforms from legal and socioeconomic perspectives.
Identify lessons learned from new reforms.
LEADING THE CHANGE
A One-Stop Shop for Client Countries
Launched by the Legal Vice Presidency of the World Bank, the initiative draws from the team’s decades-long experience in providing legal services to World Bank operations in countries, and its broad network of local and global development partners.
EWBL is a one-stop shop designed to accompany interested pilot countries in concretely building reforms to end outdated and unbalanced laws. These reforms will help participating countries in bolstering gender equality and women and girls’ empowerment to build more resilient economies.
EWBL will work with pilot countries in alignment with the World Bank strategy as defined by the Country Partnership Framework. The initiative will include the participation of World Bank experts, including Women, Business and the Law and the Gender Global Themes units, among others.
Lawyers in Development: Mobilizing Partners for Measurable Solutions
EWBL is a unique platform inviting partners and supporters to further contribute to the global aid agenda, with a focus on legal gender equality. EWBL’s structure—a network of international lawyers with measurable expertise in international development—will cater to pilot countries’ needs for real solutions that put an end to outdated, unbalanced laws that limit women and girls’ opportunities.
“Gender equality is not an abstract conceptthat demands innovative rethinking—
it is and must be a fundamental right by whichsocieties are built and economies are made to thrive.”
SANDIE OKORO, SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT AND WORLD BANK GROUP GENERAL COUNSEL (2019)
