There are nearly 600 million women aged 15-24 worldwide, with 90% living in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), making them a significant share of the global population.
37 countries grant women less than half of the legal rights of men, affecting 500 million women, while globally, women enjoy less than two-thirds of the legal rights available to men.
Closing the gender gap in employment and entrepreneurship could boost global GDP by over 20%, and eliminating the gap within a decade could double the global growth rate.
Women hold just 1 in 5 corporate board positions, partly because less than 20% of countries require gender-sensitive public procurement, excluding them from a $10 trillion-a-year opportunity.
Women earn only 77 cents for every $1 paid to men, while 92 countries lack equal pay laws. Additionally, 20 countries prohibit women from night work and 45 ban women from “dangerous” jobs.
By 2030, an estimated 8% of the world’s female population (342.4 million women and girls) will still live on less than $2.15 a day, with 220.9 million in sub-Saharan Africa.
Climate change could push 158.3 million more women and girls into poverty by 2050, which is 16 million more than men and boys under a worst-case scenario.
By 2020, food insecurity was projected to impact 236 million more women and girls, compared to 131 million more men and boys.
By 2050, women will still spend 2.5 times more hours per day on unpaid care work than men. If valued monetarily, women’s unpaid labor could exceed 40% of GDP in some countries.
The International Women's Day (IWD) 2025 theme, "Accelerate Action," calls on everyone—individuals, businesses, and governments—to break barriers and speed up progress toward gender equality.
The United Nations Secretary-General, in his IWD address, emphasizes the importance of heeding the voices of women and girls globally, advocating for action over apathy to advance gender equality.
Source:
World Bank Group, United Nations, Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP)
Mercado Libre leads with $8.5B, making it Baillie Gifford’s most valuable tech holding after its Jumia exit.
Amazon ($6.2B) and NVIDIA ($6.8B) remain major anchors in the portfolio, highlighting confidence in cloud, AI, and e-commerce.
The "Others" category holds the largest share ($75B), showing how Baillie Gifford’s exposure is spread widely beyond the major names.
Even post-Jumia, the portfolio is deeply rooted in innovation, with stakes in Spotify, Cloudflare, Moderna, and Shopify; covering audio streaming, cybersecurity, biotech, and e-commerce platforms.
Kenya recorded the highest ivory seizure among the top 10 countries, with 130,432 kg confiscated over the 34-year period.
China and Hong Kong follow closely, with 106,069 kg and 75,707 kg seized, respectively, showing their long standing roles as critical players in the global ivory network.
Vietnam and Singapore, both located in Southeast Asia, had substantial seizure records; 71,256 kg and 29,882 kg, indicating persistent trafficking through the region.
Nigeria leads West Africa in ivory confiscations within the top 10, with 23,031 kg, signalling its importance as a key node in the transit chain.
All countries listed in the top 10 are either source, transit, or destination points in the global ivory supply chain, reflecting how widespread and interconnected the illegal trade remains.
Somalia has the lowest AIDI score in Africa at 7.10, reflecting extremely poor infrastructure across all sectors.
South Sudan (7.38) and Niger (8.12) rank slightly higher, showing similarly weak infrastructure profiles.
Ethiopia (13.09) and the Central African Republic (13.23), though more advanced than others on the list, still score under 15.
Nigeria's AIDI score of 25.70, while not high by global standards, is more than three times higher than Somalia’s, indicating major disparities in infrastructure across the continent.
