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In September 1995, the Fourth World Conference on Women adopted the Beijing Declaration which set out an ambitious global agenda for women empowerment. A new UN report marking the 30th anniversary of the Declaration and its role in advancing gender equality shows a mixed picture of swift progress, indisputable gains, and continuous challenges and pressing inequities.
Whereas women empowerment at the workplace is a tangible reality, the report data show that women worldwide still earn 20 per cent than men and only about 28 per cent of managerial roles are held by women. At the same time, studies on the impact diversity clearly demonstrate that companies with gender-diverse leadership outperform their peers.
The UN report highlights the need for closing the digital divide which alone could benefit 343 million women and girls and generate $1.5 trillion in global growth by 2030. Women’s underrepresentation in technology industry is a serious problem given the rapid development of AI technologies and the risk of algorithmic bias. The lack of awareness of gender bias in AI among the general public is pervasive and ensuring that existing inequalities are not encoded in algorithms in everyday use will require the active inclusion and participation of women in AI system development early on.
