How Impact Investing Can Help Girls Shatter the Glass Ceiling

Aug 10, 2020 | Henrietta H. Fore and Suzanne Biegel
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Governments and private investors have long recognized the importance of investing in education and skills development, in terms of both achieving gender equality and economic resilience. But progress for adolescent girls and young women — a group that comprises an estimated one-eighth of the world’s population — is far from equal, especially when it comes to enabling adolescent girls in low- and middle-income countries to have the same opportunities to find employment and participate in their communities.

Even prior to COVID-19, nearly 1 in 4 girls aged 15-19 globally were not in education, employment or training, compared with 1 in 10 boys. The longer the pandemic goes on, the more likely we are to see this gender gap widen even further, as we have seen in previous public health emergencies such as Ebola.

Adolescent girls and young women are our next generation of leaders, innovators, and entrepreneurs. It is their right to learn and reach their full potential. Investing in their success makes economic sense and is also a smart way to maximize social impact.