UN launches initiative for women’s economic empowerment at Davos

Ban Ki-moon unveils global project after UK development secretary lobbied for greater opportunities for girls and women

The UN has called for a "quantum leap" forward in the empowerment of women at the launch of a global campaign to fully mobilise the untapped economic potential of half the world's population.

Ban Ki-moon, the UN secretary general, announced in Davos on Thursday that he was creating his organisation's first high-level panel on women's economic empowerment, which will come up with a plan of action later this year.