WOMEN should be given opportunities to take part in infrastructure development as the region continues to recover from the pandemic, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) said on Friday. "As we try to close a huge infrastructure gap in Asia and the Pacific, we must integrate gender considerations across all stages of the infrastructure development cycle," the ADB said. The Manila-based lender stressed that while women should theoretically comprise half of the workforce in the infrastructure sector, the lack of acknowledgment and understanding of gender disparities results in insufficient integration of gender considerations into infrastructure design. The bank stated that Asia and the Pacific faced a significant infrastructure gap, requiring annual investments of $1.7 trillion, which the public sector alone cannot cover. Moreover, ADB highlighted that these partnerships could leverage the government's role in delivering essential public infrastructure projects.
