IBA recognised for ‘milestone’ legal study of inequality
Expansive research project set to culminate in blueprint guidelines for gender parity in the legal profession by 2030.
The International Bar Association (IBA) has won the Gender Equality Initiative of the Year Award at the Women & Diversity in Law Awards.
The award was given to IBA's project, 50:50 by 2030: A longitudinal study into gender disparity in law, spearheaded by IBA president Almudena Arpón de Mendívil Aldama.
Addressing the root causes of gender inequality
Inspired by goal 5 of the United Nations 2030 Sustainable Development Goals, the IBA's project was launched on International Women's Day in 2021.
The project aimed to address and challenge the root causes of gender inequality in senior roles within the legal profession, while monitoring progress towards achieving equal representation of women.
The project included various sectors, including public, private, and the judiciary, and spans 20 countries worldwide across Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America, the Middle East, and North America.
Six reports have been completed to date, which are available for download from the IBA website.
Supported by the LexisNexis Rule of Law Foundation, the project is set to culminate in blueprint guidelines for gender parity in the legal profession by 2030.
Sara Carnegie, IBA legal projects director and project lead, explained the project was aimed at achieving equality across all legal sectors around the world.
“Learning from each other is key to success—what works and why? Looking at both the data and understanding lived experience in the next phase of our long-term project will be key to raising awareness further, sharing best practice and attaining greater balance within the legal profession,” added Carnegie.
Beatriz Martinez, an IBA project lawyer who led work on the project, said: “Without the combined efforts of bar associations, law societies and legal workplaces, this project would not have gone as far as it has.
“This unique initiative is only as impactful as the commitment to gender equality from the whole legal profession."
Ian McDougall, executive vice president and general counsel of LexisNexis Legal & Professional, and president of the LexisNexis Rule of Law Foundation said: “We strongly believe diversity and inclusion are critical to our future and the Foundation is honoured to partner with the IBA on this very important and ambitious project, by contributing our core business assets, survey and reporting tools, analytics, visualisation capabilities and our committed employee volunteers.”
