The United Nations Sustainable Stock Exchanges (UN SSE) initiative, in collaboration with the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, and UN Women, has released a new suite of Market Monitors providing the latest data and analysis on gender equality in global capital markets.
The launch includes four new reports on Gender Equality in Corporate Leadership - including the fifth edition of the flagship G20 and Regional Analysis - providing new data on the progress towards gender equality in corporate boards. In addition, two thematic Market Monitors examine regulatory approaches to board gender diversity and highlight good practices by stock exchanges to advance gender equality in capital markets.
Together, these Market Monitors form part of the UN SSE’s ongoing efforts to support progress towards the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 5 (SDG 5) on gender equality and to strengthen the role of capital markets in promoting inclusive and sustainable development.
“These new Market Monitors provide evidence-based insights into how equality between women and men on boards and in top leadership is evolving across global capital markets” said Charles Canfield, Global Manager for Corporate Governance at IFC. “By bringing together comparable data, regulatory analysis, and practical examples from different regions, the publications help stock exchanges, regulators, and market participants understand what is working, where gaps remain, and how capital markets can contribute to more inclusive and resilient corporate leadership.”
“The latest findings from the Market Monitors confirm that momentum on gender disclosure is growing and that progress is visible — but uneven and far from sufficient. Markets work best when they work for everyone. The Women’s Empowerment Principles provide companies with a clear roadmap to turn commitments into measurable impact. This International Women’s Day, the priority is clear: move beyond ambition to accountability and deliver results for ALL Women and Girls. Because gender equality is a core market performance issue.” - Anna Fälth, Global Head, Women’s Empowerment Principles Secretariat, UN Women
“Advancing gender equality in corporate leadership is essential to achieving SDG 5 and strengthening the resilience of global capital markets. These Market Monitors provide the clarity and comparability needed to move from commitments to accountability. Progress is visible - but the pace must quicken. With five consecutive years of data and an expanded global review of regulatory approaches, these publications mark an important step forward in evidence-based policymaking. By bringing exchanges, regulators, investors, and companies together, the SSE initiative aims to ensure that gender equality becomes embedded in the rules, norms and practices that govern capital markets worldwide.” - Anthony Miller, UN SSE Chief Coordinator
Gender Equality in Corporate Leadership: G20 and Regional Analysis
The fifth edition of the Gender Equality in Corporate Leadership G20 and Regional Analysis Market Monitor provides global trendlines on women’s participation at both board and executive levels. Covering G20 markets and seven regional groups, the report tracks progress over time, highlights persistent gaps, and now with five consecutive years of data - enables a new trend analysis of the pace and direction of change.
Key highlights:
- Continued upward trends in women’s representation on corporate boards globally, though progress remains uneven across markets.
- A persistent gap between women’s representation at the board level and in executive leadership roles.
- G20 markets drive much of the global progress with these markets reaching a new high of 25% women on corporate boards.
While momentum is evident, the report underscores that at the current pace, parity in corporate leadership remains distant in many jurisdictions.
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Gender Equality in Corporate Leadership: Regional Deep Dives
Three regional Market Monitors provide deeper analysis of trends, regulatory frameworks, and market dynamics across: Africa, Asia, and Western & Central Asia.
These reports identify region-specific drivers of change, including regulatory reform, voluntary market initiatives, and investor engagement. They also highlight significant variation within regions, demonstrating that policy design, enforcement mechanisms, and local context shape outcomes.
Across all three regions, the reports note growing recognition that gender-diverse leadership strengthens governance, risk management, and long-term value creation - increasingly aligning gender equality with core sustainable finance objectives.
Increasing Women’s Representation on Corporate Boards: A Global Inventory of Rules
A dedicated Market Monitor provides the most comprehensive global review to date of board gender diversity rules among UN Member States.
The report identifies three main regulatory approaches: Mandatory minimum rules (present in 25 markets), Mandatory disclosure requirements (25 markets), and Voluntary targets (16 markets).
Key findings include:
- Significant variation in legal basis, scope, enforcement mechanisms, and the design of targets - including percentage-based thresholds versus fixed numeric requirements.
- Strong regional divergence: Europe has the highest number of mandatory minimum requirements, with the EU Directive expected to further expand this number.
- Other regions rely more heavily on voluntary targets or disclosure-based approaches.
- Evidence suggests that effectiveness depends less on whether rules are mandatory or voluntary and more on their ambition, design, enforcement and adaptation to local circumstances.
- Higher proportional targets tend to drive stronger results than minimal numeric quotas but there is no one-size-fits-all model; context matters.
The report emphasizes that well-designed frameworks - combining ambition, clarity, and accountability - are critical to accelerating progress.
Good Practices of Stock Exchanges to Advance Women's Opportunities
A second thematic Market Monitor examines how seven stock exchanges across regions are advancing gender equality within their markets. The practices implemented by seven stock exchanges across different regions and market contexts who are respective leaders in the market according to corporate board gender diversity include: the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX), Bursa Malaysia, Borsa İstanbul, Euronext Paris, Japan Exchange Group (JPX), Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE), and Latinex (Panama).
Stock exchanges are uniquely positioned to influence market behavior through listing requirements, disclosure frameworks, voluntary norms and guidance, gender-focused financial products, investor engagement initiatives, and internal leadership and pay equity practices.
Mapping exchange practices against the UN SSE Gender Equality Action Plan, the report identifies three complementary areas of impact:
- Gender-focused financial products and investor initiatives, including thematic bonds and gender lens investing platforms.
- Strengthening issuer performance, through enhanced disclosure, governance frameworks, and capacity-building programs.
- Leading by example, by adopting internal diversity policies and advancing pay equity.
While approaches vary according to market context, the report highlights a clear trend toward mainstreaming gender equality within sustainable finance and corporate governance frameworks. Practical recommendations are offered to support replication and scaling across additional markets.
Advancing SDG 5 Through Capital Markets
These Market Monitors reinforce the SSE initiative’s role as a global platform for evidence-based policymaking and peer learning among exchanges, regulators, investors, and listed companies.
By improving transparency, strengthening regulatory frameworks, and sharing good practices, capital markets can accelerate progress toward gender equality while enhancing market integrity, resilience, and long-term value creation.
The UN SSE, in partnership with IFC and UN Women, will continue to support stock exchanges, regulators and listed companies worldwide in advancing gender equality as a core pillar of sustainable development and responsible investment. Gender equality remains one of the SSE’s key strategic priorities. Through its collaboration with IFC and UN Women, the SSE also delivers training to capital market participants via the Gender Equality: Addressing Complexities in Capital Markets programme.