2021

For the first time in G20's history, in 2021, during the Italian Presidency of the summit, a conference entirely dedicated to female empowerment is held in Rome. In such occasion, Ambrosetti Club launches and coordinates a Business Advisory Board, under the guidance of the Italian Minister of Equal Opportunities and Family, Elena Bonetti.

The analysis and recommendations developed are shared with the Department for Equal Opportunities and Family of the Office of the Prime Minister, which expresses its intention to formulate social welfare policies in line with the suggestions received. The goals The European House - Ambrosetti working group set for itself in producing the study are to:

  • analyze the current status of female inclusion in the labor market in Italy;
  • identify the causes at the root of low female inclusion in the Italian labor market;
  • craft scenarios and economic parameters regarding greater female participation in the Italian labor market;
  • develop policy proposals and outline a short-to-medium term strategy for achieving equity and equal opportunities for women in the Italian labor market.

The results are presented at the G20 Conference on Women's Empowerment, on August 26, 2021, with a Manifesto signed by the Advisory Board's members.



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Proposals for a nation that seeks equity and equal opportunities for women in the labor market

SIGN THE MANIFESTO on Women's Empowerment



2022

In continuity with our commitment, in 2022 The European House - Ambrosetti launches a permanent and independent Observatory on Women's Empowerment, with a focus on G20 countries plus Spain (included as a permanent guest of the G20) – in partnership with A2A, ABB, British American Tobacco (BAT), Invesco, Gruppo Mondadori, Oracle, and Gruppo Pictet; with the contribution of Special Advisors Arancha González Laya (Rector of Sciences Po's School of International Affairs in Paris) and Minouche Shafik (Rector of the London School of Economics and Political Science).


Best practices

By analisying more than 50 policies on women's empowerment across all G20 countries and Spain, we have identified 6 categories of best practices.

Areas of intervenction

  • Work-life balance
  • Definition of specific KPIs/targets
  • Training & retraining courses
  • External partnerships
  • Education
  • Awareness
  • Mentorship & sponsorship

An indicator to measure the progress of women's empowerment

From the Observatory stemmed a new indicator - Women's Empowerment Progress Index (WEPI) - which measures, monitors and tracks the progress of G20 countries plus Spain in multiple domains of female empowerment with the goal of promoting effective policies.

Approved by the European Commission

the Index has been submitted for the audit of the Joint Research Centre (JRC) of the European Commission’s Competence Centre on Composite Indicators and Scoreboards (COIN). The audit provided by the JRC underlines the quality, trustworthiness and conceptual soundness of the framework adopted for the elaboration of the WEPI.



The Observatory at the 48th Cernobbio Forum

The first results of the Observatory are presented by Arancha González Laya to the audience of the 48th Cernobbio Forum, during the session dedicated to the fight against inequalities, on September 2, 2022.

The study highlights how achieving gender equality and advancing Women’s Empowerment is not just a matter of rights, but also a fundamental step in the path towards the achievement of sustainable development – in terms of social equality as well as economic growth and country competitiveness..







2023

For the second edition, the Observatory kept measuring the international progress on women's empowerment, and recording best practices, based on the principles of  accountability and measurement of social, economic and cultural impacts.

On the basis of this work, we have developed two composite Indexes:

The Women’s Empowerment Progress Index 2023, updated to 2023, measures, monitors and tracks the progress of G20 countries plus Spain in multiple domains of female empowerment with the goal of promoting effective policies.
France is once again at the top of the ranking, followed by the UK and Australia, with Türkiye, Saudi Arabia and India at the bottom, still showing high levels of dynamism. In this picture, Italy ranks sixth with a score of 83.1 out of 100. One of the country's strengths is the share of seats held by women on the boards of publicly listed companies (equal to 42.6% vs. the G20 plus Spain average of 26.5%), also thanks to the implementation of the Golfo-Mosca Law; while a low female labour force participation rate (56.4% vs. 61.4%) and a limited share of women in managerial positions (28.6% vs. 30.9%) represent the most critical issues.


The EU SheWorks Indexis aimed at emphasizing the centrality of women’s access, inclusion and empowerment in the European labour market to release their full potential, focuses on EU-27 Member States plus the UK.
There is a strong concentration of Nordic countries among the best performers, with Sweden, Ireland and Finland in the top three positions, while Greece, Italy and Romania are at the bottom of the ranking. In this context, with a score of 5.4 out of 100, Italy records an extremely high share of women in involuntary part-time employment (equal to 52.6% vs. the EU average of 23.0%) and a higher share of women outside of the workforce due to caring responsibilities (3.1% vs. 1.2%).


The results of the second edition of the permanent Observatory on Women’s Empowerment were presented by Arancha González Laya during the 49th edition of The European House - Ambrosetti's annual Forum in Cernobbio.


The Reports of the Observatory on Women's Empowerment