JOHANNESBURGA World Bank report warned of a “shockingly large” gap between legislation promoting gender equality and its enforcement, with no country currently ensuring all the legal rights required for women’s full economic participation. The annual report, released on Tuesday, emphasised that while many nations have made progress on laws that advance women’s economic rights, weak enforcement systems and institutional shortcomings have hindered their real-world impact. Between October 2023 and October 2025, 68 economies enacted 113 legal reforms aimed at expanding women’s economic opportunities. “Less than five percent of women worldwide live in economies that provide anything close to full legal equality,” the report noted. The report measured women’s economic opportunities across ten categories: safety, mobility, work, pay, marriage, parenthood, childcare, entrepreneurship, assets and pensions.

Source: The North Africa Journal February 25, 2026 09:35 UTC