JEDDAH – If female employment rates were to match male rates, a country's GDP could see a boost, management consulting firm Booz & Company said Monday in its “Third Billion Index” – a ranking of 128 countries based on how effectively leaders are empowering women as economic agents. Karim Sabbagh, a Senior Partner with Booz & Company, said in the report “Empowering the Third Billion – Women and the World of Work in 2012” that countries with a strong set of both inputs and outputs are labeled “on the path to success”, these are typically developed economies. Moreover, the countries “taking the right steps” have implemented a slate of input policies and are just beginning to see their efforts pay off. He said the results of the index led to several revelations about government practices and women's economic progress. “First, there is a clear correlation between the front-end processes and policies regarding women's economic opportunities (inputs) and the actual success of women in their national economies (outputs). We discovered this by clustering the 128 countries into five broad categories based on their index rankings,” said Sabbagh. Three countries from the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region are featured in the inaugural Third Billion Index – they include Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the UAE. The analysis highlights these nations' remarkable socioeconomic transitions and also serves to combat some of the popular stereotypes about their women. It also spearheads discussions about the best path forward for the region as a whole and its women in particular. In effect, this is a region with tremendous potential that has not yet been realized. Women's regional labor force participation is at just 26 percent, and they hold ownership positions in only 20 percent of businesses in the MENA region. Furthermore, only about 9 percent of women in this part of the world actually start businesses. In terms of the categories of this report, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE are all “at the starting gate”. These three countries face substantially different challenges at the macroeconomic level, and the members of the Third Billion in each also face unique circumstances. Nevertheless, their governments and companies have a great opportunity to boost their own economic growth by opening new doors for women. Saudi Arabia was ranked 123rd on the Third Billion Index score. Despite the nation's multitude of cultural and legal restrictions, females constitute 57 percent of university graduates – a figure strongly indicative of the great strides that have been made in safeguarding the education of women. Today, however, the challenge is to create opportunities for them in the marketplace. This can be steadily resolved through a number of measures: the Saudi government can create incentives for private-sector companies to hire women and institute a high-level task force to explore their needs in the labor force. With the combined efforts of the public sector, Ministry of Labor and companies, as well as an adequate entrepreneurial ecosystem in place, the country's women could bring the economy to the next level. Egypt's overall index score placed the country in the 108th spot. If women are to play a more active economic role in Egypt, the government must craft policies to formally correct societal and legal constraints that are hindering their advancements. In actuality, women's participation in the workforce and ability to start businesses should be the most urgent items on the national agenda. And, the state needs to create jobs, grow its economy, and incite innovation to enable this. For example, Egypt's government can undertake a number of steps to encourage private firm managers to employ women, such as subsidizing the cost of motherhood for a limited period of time; enforcing equal opportunity laws; offering better training and education schemes in partnership with the private sector to prepare women for new opportunities in growth fields such as technology. Flexible work arrangements such as telecommuting are one promising option, especially given Egypt's advanced level of telecommunications infrastructure. Finally, Egypt's well-established NGO sector can also contribute to the economic empowerment of women through establishing connections with the private sector to foster corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives in this regard. The UAE assumes the 109th place on the Index Score. With high levels of education, strong personal ambitions and leadership support, Emirati women have the opportunity to advance rapidly as both workers and entrepreneurs. But laws related to maternity leave and non-flexible working hours deter their ability to efficiently pursue their careers. Changes regarding policy, infrastructure, and culture are also required. Women in the UAE need more inclusive workplaces and dedicated entrepreneurial resources to reach their full potential. Ultimately, the Third Billion consists of many individual women around the world – each with her own personality, needs, obstacles, hopes, and desires. Yet the global economy does not have the luxury of addressing this crucial group one woman at a time. Only sweeping institutional changes at the national, regional, and global levels can help women everywhere reach their full economic potential and make the contributions necessary to keep the global economy moving forward. These advancements will not solely benefit each woman directly, but also the community around her, the national economy she is supporting, and the world at large. – SG
