Advancing Gender Parity in Northern Central America: Insights from the 2025 Global Gender Gap Report
- Whitney Dubinsky
- Jun 19
- 3 min read
The 2025 Global Gender Gap Report, published by the World Economic Forum, offers a detailed examination of the evolving state of gender equity worldwide. For Northern Central America, the report reflects an interplay of progress, persistence, and untapped opportunity. These nations are at a pivotal juncture: working to stabilize governance, modernize economies, and deepen inclusion. Gender parity in these contexts is more than a benchmark, it's a strategic lever for resilience and competitiveness.
National Highlights
El Salvador emerged as a regional standout in 2025, climbing 18 ranks to 78th globally. Notable gains in educational attainment and increased female participation in senior public roles drive this improvement. While structural gaps in income parity and leadership pipelines persist, the upward trend signals successful reform and a conducive environment for continued progress. Guatemala, rising 12 places to 81st, reflects similar momentum. The country is making headway in economic inclusion and access to decision-making roles, although its overall parity in health and income remains constrained by systemic inequalities. These gains suggest that investments in human capital and targeted policy shifts are beginning to yield results. Honduras, though not highlighted as a top mover in the report, is aligned with the region’s trajectory. It demonstrates steady progress in education and health equity, yet lacks comparable advancements in economic participation and political representation. This stagnation highlights the need for targeted interventions that focus on empowering women to exercise their economic agency and fostering pathways into leadership.
Regional Subindex Snapshot
El Salvador and Guatemala are both benefiting from improvements in mid-level female workforce participation and policy reforms that encourage equity in education. However, the economic opportunity gap remains wide across all three countries, limiting the broader impact of gains in education and health.
Turning Data into Strategy
The data paints a clear message: education and health parity do not automatically translate into economic equity. Wage gaps, informal employment, and limited access to finance and leadership persist, especially in rural and indigenous communities.
Disconnect Between Education and Employment
Despite high female graduation rates, labor market participation for women remains limited by informal sector concentration, lack of childcare infrastructure, and misalignment between vocational training and private sector needs.
Women dominate the care and service economies, which are underpaid and undervalued, while sectors driving regional GDP growth, such as agriculture, infrastructure, and digital services, see limited female inclusion.
Promotion, Pay, and Entrepreneurship Bias
Gender-based wage gaps persist across formal sectors, exacerbated by informal employment where regulatory protection is minimal.
Women-led SMEs face disproportionate barriers to accessing credit, collateral, and supply chains, especially those owned by indigenous women.
Leadership pipelines in business and civil service lack mid-career support structures for women, contributing to the “leaky pipeline” effect.
Underrepresentation in Decision-Making
Political empowerment remains low across the region (Political Empowerment Index ranges: 0.092–0.262).
Women are underrepresented not only in national parliaments but also in municipal councils, chambers of commerce, and cooperative boards, where decisions on budget allocations, land use, and investment incentives are made.
At ALD Strategic Advisory, we support this transformation by:
Designing gender-informed business support programs, including accelerators for women-led SMEs and resilience training for women in the informal economy.
Advising on ESG and gender policy integration, aligning development strategies with investor expectations and global benchmarks.
Strengthening ecosystem collaboration among governments, donors, financial institutions, and local women’s networks to ensure that gender equity is a cross-sector priority.
Our team combines field-based insight with global best practice to help our clients turn gender equity from a compliance goal into a competitive advantage.
Gender equity isn’t just the right path, it’s the smart one.
📩 Reach out at wdubinsky@aldstrategicadvisory.com
🔗 Learn more at www.aldstrategicadvisory.com
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