At the World Bank Group and International Monetary Fund spring meetings last week in Washington, a central theme was how to accelerate sustainable, inclusive economic growth. But as world leaders seek to reignite the global economy, a large part of the formula for growth and stability is undervalued: the economic empowerment of women.
在最近华盛顿召开的世界银行集团(World Bank Group)和国际货币基金组织(IMF)春季会议上，一个中心主题是如何加快可持续的包容性经济增长。然而，就在世界领导人寻求重焕全球经济的活力之际，增长和稳定“配方”中的一个重要部分被低估：女性经济赋权。Only 55 per cent of women participate in the paid labour force globally and they continue to be an untapped source of growth. This is an invaluable asset with proven returns, but we have not invested the resources to unleash women’s full potential. The evidence is overwhelming that supporting women’s economic participation has enormous dividends for families, communities, and whole economies.
在全球范围内，只有55%的女性从事有偿工作，她们继续是未得到有效开发的增长来源。这是一项宝贵的资产，有着得到证实的回报，但我们没有投入资源来释放女性的全部潜能。大量证据证明，支持女性参与经济会给家庭、社会乃至整个经济带来巨大好处。Research by the World Bank Group, the IMF, the OECD, and private sector studies concludes that we can add billions to the global economy by creating an enabling environment, increasing women’s labour force participation and business ownership, and improving the productivity of their work. These actions also grow national economies and make countries more competitive. Closing gender gaps makes sense at the macroeconomic level and also at the company level. Research shows a correlation between the number of women on boards and higher corporate profits.
世界银行集团的研究、IMF、经合组织(OECD)以及私营部门的研究都得出结论认为，通过创造支持的环境，提高女性劳动参与率和企业所有权，并提高她们在工作中的生产率，我们能够使全球经济规模扩大数十亿美元。这些行动还有助于发展国民经济，提升国家竞争力。无论是在宏观经济还是在公司层面，消除性别差距都是有意义的。研究显示，董事会的女性数量以及更高的企业利润之间存在关联。
Beyond the economic impact, studies show that women tend to allocate more of their income to food, healthcare and education — in short, goods that benefit their children and have multiplier effects for generations.
除了经济影响，研究还显示，女性往往会把更多的收入用来购买食品、医疗和教育——简言之，这些购买有利于她们的子女，对后代具有乘数效应。Yet despite overwhelming evidence of the benefits of investing in female entrepreneurs and women in the workplace, progress has stalled. The World Economic Forum’s 2016 Global Gender Gap Report estimated that achieving economic parity between genders could take 170 years. That is unacceptable.
然而，尽管大量证据证明投资于女性企业家和女性员工是有好处的，但实际进展陷入停滞。世界经济论坛(WEF)的《2016年全球性别差距报告》(Global Gender Gap Report)估计，实现性别之间的经济平等可能要花费170年。这是不可接受的。World Bank Group research shows that female-owned enterprises make up only 38 per cent of formal small and medium enterprises in emerging markets. Among women who have started businesses, only 10 per cent have access to the capital they need to grow them.
世界银行集团的研究显示，在新兴市场，由女性所有的正规中小企业仅占总数的38%。在创办企业的女性中，只有10%能够获得企业扩张所需的资金。From a global standpoint, female entrepreneurs are further disadvantaged by legislation impeding women’s economic opportunities, restricting them from certain professions, preventing them from travelling, and constraining their ability to inherit or own land. Women-owned enterprises are concentrated in a narrower range of sectors, largely those with lower profit margins and export potential.
从全球视角看，阻碍女性经济机遇的立法让女性企业家进一步处于不利局面，这些立法限制女性进入某些职业，阻碍她们旅行，制约她们继承或拥有土地的能力。由女性所有的企业集中在较少的行业，基本上是那些利润率和出口潜力都较低的行业。This week Angela Merkel, Germany’s chancellor, hosts the W20 summit in Berlin, focusing on promoting women’s economic empowerment as an integral part of the G20 agenda.
最近，德国总理安格拉?默克尔(Angela Merkel)主持了在柏林召开的20国集团(G20)妇女峰会（即W20峰会），此次峰会聚焦于推动女性经济赋权，作为G20议程不可分割的一部分。
We know what works. We need to increase access to finance, redistribute care work, accelerate progress to financial inclusion, and offer programmes that train female entrepreneurs and help them access higher value markets. We need to develop new legal and regulatory frameworks to boost women’s growth and productivity. The right skills training enhances women’s capacity to manage their businesses. And mentorship opportunities and access to networks bring learning opportunities and connections to capital and markets.
我们知道哪些措施有效。我们需要扩大融资渠道、重新分配护理工作、加快朝向金融包容的进展，以及推出相关计划，培训女企业家，并帮助她们打入更高价值的市场。我们需要制定新的法律和监管框架，促进女性的成长并提高生产率。正确的技能培训会增强女性管理企业的能力。而辅导机会和加入网络会带来学习机会，开启通向资本和市场的大门。Groups like the W20, the World Economic Forum, World Bank, and the UN Secretary-General’s high-level panel on women’s economic empowerment have been instrumental in reinforcing the case for investing in women, identifying effective solutions. Policy leaders, executives, economists, and other academics all agree that one of the most powerful ways to grow the global economy is to expand the role of women in business.
W20峰会、世界经济论坛、世界银行和联合国(UN)秘书长有关女性经济赋权的高层委员会等组织，对于强调投资于女性、找出有效解决方案的理由起着重要作用。政策领导者、高管、经济学家和其他学者都认为，促进全球经济增长的最强大途径之一是扩大女性在商界的角色。Our challenge now is to work together — in public and private sectors — to move decisively to invest in women worldwide.
我们现在的挑战是开展合作（无论是在公共部门还是在私营部门），采取果断行动投资于世界各地的女性。The writers are the US first daughter and adviser to the president; and the president of the World Bank
本文作者分别是美国总统的长女、总统顾问；以及世界银行行长