Beyond the rhetoric of gender equality at the World Bank and the IMF

This article reviews the rhetoric and practice of the IMF and the World Bank in promoting gender equality. It shows that these institutions, in making the case for the synergy between gender equality and economic growth, neglect both the potential of gender wage inequality to stimulate growth and the macroeconomic enabling conditions for gender equality. In practice, they fall short in promoting gender equality due to their limited conception of it, narrow assessment criteria and continued insistence on neoliberal and austerity policies.