Can we achieve gender equality by 2030?

- YouTube

It has been nearly 30 years since former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton declared at the UN Conference on Women, hosted in Beijing, that “Women’s rights are human rights.” While progress has been made in some key areas, like education and access to healthcare, the number of women in the global labor force has remained largely stagnant since the 1990s. Women still trail men overall in income, digital inclusion, and even access to banking.

This week World Bank announced a bold initiative to bridge that divide by creating more economic opportunity, broadening female leadership, and reducing gender-based violence in the next 5 years as 2030 approaches. GZERO’s Tony Maciulis spoke to two of the architects of the plan—World Bank’s Global Head of Gender Hana Brixi, and Nathalie Akon Gabala, who is Global Director of Gender and Economic Inclusion at the International Finance Corporation.

Many global organizations have pledged to close the gender gap and have fallen short. Brixi tells Maciulis “more transparency and more accountability” will be needed to succeed, and details the approach World Bank will take in the coming years.

Watch more from Global Stage.

More from GZERO Media

Three presidents have visited the Federal Reserve before Donald Trump
Riley Callanan

Donald Trump is set to visit the US Federal Reserve building on Thursday to inspect its recent $2.5 billion structural renovation, amid an intensifying White House pressure campaign on Fed Chair Jerome Powell.

On this episode of Next Giant Leap, hosts Mike Massimino and Mike Greenley are joined by Alex MacDonald, former Chief Economist at NASA. They discuss the surprising history of private investment in the space industry, the many reasons for the current boom, and how you might get a job in the space world.

US President Donald Trump receives a nomination letter after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told him he nominated him for the Nobel Peace Prize, during a bilateral dinner at the White House in Washington, D.C., USA, on July 7, 2025.
REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

The past few days have brought an unusually firm trickle of criticism of Israel from the Trump administration and its allies. Cracks are also emerging within the GOP on its support for the Jewish state.

A financial data monitor in Tokyo shows the 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average soaring more than 1,000 points to recover to the 40,000 level during morning trading on July 23, 2025, after U.S. President Donald Trump said he had struck a trade deal with Japan.
Kyodo via Reuters

Donald Trump announced a trade deal with Japan on Tuesday, easing fears of escalating tensions with a key US ally (and the world’s fourth largest economy to boot)