Women, Business and the Law 2023: Findings and Reform Efforts in the Middle East

The World Bank’s Women, Business and the Law 2023 report is the ninth annual report that analyzes laws and regulations affecting women’s economic opportunity in 190 economies. The Women, Business and the Law report measures explicit discrimination in the law, legal rights, and the provision of certain benefits that affect women as they move through their professional lives. It covers eight related areas: Mobility, Workplace, Pay, Marriage, Parenthood, Entrepreneurship, Assets, and Pension. Whether a 25-year-old starting her first job, a mother balancing work with caring for her children, or a woman preparing for retirement, the eight indicators show the ways in which laws affect women throughout their working lives.

This year, the report also includes research on 52 years of reforms for women’s rights and economic empowerment. This event convened leaders and gender experts from the Middle East and Washington, D.C. to analyze the report findings and discuss how to address existing barriers to women’s economic empowerment.