Addis Ababa — Increased investments in gender equality are vital if the world is to achieve sustained economic growth and development, United Nations Secretary-General said today during the Third International Conference on Financing for Development, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

“It is clear that we have not invested sufficiently in gender equality,” Mr. Ban said at a side event hosted by UN Women and the World Bank on Financing for Gender Equality. “We know that persisting gaps in gender equality and women’s empowerment in the world have been a barrier to the full achievement of each of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).”

He noted that currently, less than 10 per cent of official development assistance (ODA) targets women, and many gender equality policies and programmes remain unfunded by domestic resources. “This has to change now if we are to achieve sustained, inclusive and equitable economic growth and development.”