Call to Action Support and Invest in Women's Entrepreneurship

Call to Action: Support and Invest in Women’s Entrepreneurship Women’s Entrepreneurship: The Key to Sustainable Business and Development Ways to Empower and Support  Fostering women’s how to empower women in entrepreneurship is critical to the workplace, marketplace • Develop an inclusive sourcing policy achieving sustainable businesses, and community as well as and report on the implementation of this economic growth and to meeting seek to elaborate the gender policy current and future sustainable dimension of broader • Support women's employment in the development goals and targets sustainable development value-chain and commit to inclusive In 2012, it was estimated over 200 goals In support of the sourcing from women entrepreneurs by million women1 started a launch of Women’s business or ran an established Entrepreneurship Day (WED), business, providing jobs and the Women’s Empowerment opportunities to other women, Principles encourages marginalized populations an equal men, families and communities companies to implement opportunity to compete for business around the world By leveraging Principle of the WEPs, • Identify potential obstacles for the talents, skills and innovation which among other things women-entrepreneurs, advocate for a of these women entrepreneurs, calls on business to expand strong rule of law and help remove the women can bring needed action inclusive sourcing practices barriers to global challenges such as and support women • Offer business skills training where climate change and water entrepreneurship, and pledge possible to improve value chain scarcity The Women’s support to women- owned integration Empowerment Principles, a joint businesses and or an • Develop gender-sensitive solutions to initiative of UN Women and UN individual woman credit and lending barriers Global Compact, provide a entrepreneur • Create and promote products made setting concrete goals and targets • Promote gender equality and women’s empowerment throughout your company’s value chain and offer framework for business action on FOR women or products made BY Business Case • Use sex-disaggregated data to report It Makes Business Sense on progress women • Celebrate WED and Women on Women are the largest emerging remains untapped, at both market in the world, with an top leaderships levels as well income of $13 trillion globally in as throughout the value chain 2009, surpassing the marketplace Research suggests more than power of China by $8.6 trillion 80 per cent of women and India by $11.8 trillion2 Yet, perceive that investment contribute to ongoing discussions and this tremendous market power marketers not understand learn from a pool of shared resources Wednesday (#WomenWOW) • Support a woman entrepreneur Learn more • Join the Knowledge Gateway for Women’s Economic Empowerment: their needs and requirements3 company’s products in hard to catalysts to help build strong This gap provides an reach communities By reaching women-led businesses opportunity to engage women these remote communities, the entrepreneurs in all levels of company gave access to a huge product and service number of rural consumers development which can help throughout the country The close the gap in understanding company achieved BDT200 the needs and requirements of million (€2.1 million) additional women consumers Inclusive sales in 2008 This project not sourcing broadens the talent pool only increased sales for the and creates vendor competition, company, but the lives of local lowering bottom line costs and women and their families have increasing competitive been changed significantly advantage Company Examples A global food producer piloted a project in Bangladesh with 1,950 entrepreneurs selling the A global consulting company connected the Philippine Coffee Board, to enhance women’s participation the company’s supply chain After a thorough review of the company’s requirements, Philippine Coffee Board matched the company with appropriate women coffee suppliers The company is working to change its call A global IT management tenders to highlight its interest in software and solutions company receiving bids from women- committed to supporting the owned companies, and is advancement of Women in IT identifying inclusive sourcing and partners with venture- opportunities in other sectors Additional Resources        Women’s Empowerment Principles- www.weprinciples.org Read the WEPs Call to Action on Inclusive Sourcing to learn more on how to source from women Knowledge Gateway for Women’s Economic Empowerment: learn from and contribute to ongoing discussions International Labour Organization- Women’s Entrepreneurship Development World Bank- Women, Business and the Law International Trade Centre- Women Vendors Exhibition and Forum UN Global Compact- Encourage women-owned businesses to adopt sustainable business practices About the Women’s Empowerment Principles In 2010, the UN Global Compact, in partnership with UN Women, launched the Women’s Empowerment Principles – seven Principles for business on how to empower women in the workplace marketplace and community Sub-titled Equality Means Business, the Principles emphasize the business case for corporate action to promote gender equality and women’s empowerment and are informed by real-life business practices and input gathered from across the globe Rather than being prescriptive or a new initiative to which business is asked to subscribe, the Women’s Empowerment Principles seek to point the way to best practice by elaborating the gender dimension of good corporate citizenship, the UN Global Compact and business’ role in sustainable development As well as being a useful guide for business, it is hoped that Principles will inform other stakeholders, including governments, in their engagements with business The UN Global Compact is the world’s largest voluntary corporate sustainability initiative offering guidance to business on how align their operations and strategies with ten universally accepted principles in the areas of human rights, labour, environment and anti-corruption UN Women is the UN organization dedicated to gender equality and the empowerment of women A global champion for women and girls, UN Women was established to accelerate progress on meeting their needs worldwide References Global Entrepreneurship Monitoring,(2013) http://www.gemconsortium.org/docs/2825/gem-2012-womens-report,, Deloitte, (2011) “The gender dividend: Making the business case for investing in women” http://www.deloitte.com/assets/Dcom-Greece/dttl_ps_genderdividend_130111.pdf, Dalberg, 2014 “The Business Case for Women’s Economic Empowerment” http://dalberg.com/documents/Business_Case_for_Womens_Economic_Empowerment.pdf ... receiving bids from women- committed to supporting the owned companies, and is advancement of Women in IT identifying inclusive sourcing and partners with venture- opportunities in other sectors... Principles- www.weprinciples.org Read the WEPs Call to Action on Inclusive Sourcing to learn more on how to source from women Knowledge Gateway for Women’s Economic Empowerment: learn from and. .. Principles for business on how to empower women in the workplace marketplace and community Sub-titled Equality Means Business, the Principles emphasize the business case for corporate action to