Why prioritizing gender equality is key to driving inclusive growth and economic resilience
This article was written by Salzburg Global Fellow Seroshi Nandasiri, who attended the KFAS-Salzburg Global Leadership Initiative.
Gender mainstreaming—integrating a gender perspective into policies, programs, and activities by organizations and governments to promote gender equality and female empowerment—ensures equal benefits for all genders in development initiatives and considers their unique needs and experiences.
Gender mainstreaming can contribute to financial sustainability—the ability of an organization or government to maintain its financial viability over the long term—by promoting economic empowerment among women, investing in human capital development, and identifying untapped market segments.
It can also help organizations manage risks more effectively, such as addressing gender-specific vulnerabilities in disaster risk management.
Additionally, incorporating gender mainstreaming into corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives can enhance reputation, attract talent, and build stronger relationships with customers and communities, contributing to long-term financial sustainability.
Ultimately, gender mainstreaming can contribute to financial sustainability by promoting inclusive growth, enhancing organizational resilience, and unlocking new innovation and market expansion opportunities.
The Case of Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka officially declared bankruptcy in 2022. This was caused by many factors, not least the poor utilization of its resources, especially human resources.
Bankruptcy comes against a backdrop where Sri Lanka’s gender equality indexes have been continually dropping since 2010, indicating the inefficient use of an essential resource in the economy. Sri Lanka’s Gender Inequality Index (GII) score of 0.38 ranked 92nd of 170 countries in 2021. Until recently, Sri Lanka was ranked first in South Asia on the gender equality index, a position since challenged by regional peers such as the Maldives, Bangladesh, and Nepal. As per The Global Gender Gap report, Sri Lanka has the 27th largest gender gap in 2020, ranking 110th of 146 nations.
Sri Lanka’s women constitute 52% of the population, but their labor-force participation remains at 32%, compared to 72% for males. Supply-side constraints include household work, unpaid care, and gender discrimination, while demand-side causes include lack of entrepreneurship, employment discrimination, and lower wage prospects.
Women have a 36% youth unemployment rate compared to 21% for males. Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are critical contributors to economic development and job creation, but only 25% are owned by women due to impediments of informal to formal transitions, restricted access to capital and markets, lack of business acumen, and lack of capacity building. Women lead about 25% of households, but their labor-force involvement remains low.
McKinsey Global Institute stated in 2019 that Sri Lanka could add an extra $20 billion to its economy by 2025 if gender equality were achieved and women were effectively facilitated to participate in economic activity.
Sri Lanka has made its investment in education and health for women but has failed to create opportunities through gender mainstreaming to reap the returns of its investment. Rectifying this would go a considerable way towards paying off Sri Lanka’s otherwise insurmountable foreign debt and turning its economic woes around.
Seroshi Nandasiri is the founder and chair of the Women's International Foundation, a social service organization that supports the empowerment of women in Sri Lanka.
This article featured in our digital publication, which includes more coverage from the KFAS-Salzburg Global Leadership Initiative program on "Uncertain Futures and Connections Reimagined: Connecting Generations".
The KFAS-Salzburg Global Leadership Initiative is a multi-year program that annually brings together an international, intergenerational, and interdisciplinary network of Korean and global thought leaders to create new connections and tackle global challenges.
