as such closing gender gaps must be a central part of any strategy to create more sustainable and inclusive economies and societies in order to identify barriers to greater gender equality and build on its expertise in these areas the oecd launched its gender initiative to help governments promote gender equality in education employment and entrepreneurship the three es see box greater education participation from an early age onwards provides better economic opportunities for women by raising the overall level of human capital and labour productivity mobilising hitherto underutilised labour supply and ensuring higher female employment will widen the base of taxpayers and contributors to social protection systems which will come under increasing pressure due to population ageing