Women’s Leadership in SMEs: Gaps and Opportunities

June 8, 2012

Caren Grown USAID

Elena BardasiThe World Bank

Meg JonesInternational Trade Centre

Women’s Leadership in SMEs: Gaps & Opportunities

Caren GrownUSAID

Caren Grown is Senior Gender Advisor in the Bureau of Policy, Planning and Learning, where she leads USAID’s efforts to integrate gender equality and female empowerment throughout the agency’s policies and programs. Dr. Grown is on leave as Economist-In-Residence at American University, where she also co-directed the Program on Gender Analysis in Economics.

BIO: Caren Grown

GRAPH: Number of Formal Owned Women’s SMEs

Elena BardasiThe World Bank

Elena Bardasi is Senior Economist in the Gender Unit of the Poverty Reduction and Economic Management network at the World Bank. Her current work focuses on female entrepreneurship and gender issues in the labor market. She has been writing and publishing on issues related to informal labor markets, time use, female employment, female entrepreneurship, wage differentials, and occupational segregation.

BIO: Elena Bardasi

Meg JonesInternational Trade Centre

Meg Jones is the Women and Trade Program Manager at the International Trade Centre responsible for the design and implementation of a multi-million dollar program to increase the economic benefits women derive from trade. Jones works with governments, corporations, and institutions to connect buyers to women-owned enterprises and to improve the business environment to foster women’s export success.

BIO: Meg Jones

Growing economies through women’s entrepreneurship: Gaps and Opportunities

Meg Jones, Women and Trade Programme Manager, ITC Seminar & Webinar organised by USAID 8 June 2012

OVERVIEW

• Introduction to the International Trade Centre (ITC)

• Identifying Gaps:

- National Export Strategies

- Gender-sensitive value-chain analysis

• Identifying Opportunities:

- Linking women entrepreneurs to supply chains

- Building capacity, measuring results

• Act now for impact!

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EXPORT IMPACT FOR GOOD

ITC’s MISSION

ITC improves small business export success in developing countries by providing, with partners, sustainable and inclusive trade development solutions to exporters, trade support institutions and policymakers

ITC’s STRATEGIC OBJECTIVES

Exporters Strengthen the international competitiveness of enterprises in developing countries and transition economies.

Trade Support Institutions Develop the capabilities of trade service providers to support exporters.

Policymakers Support policymakers in integrating the private sector into the global economy.

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CASE : SUPPORTING WOMEN’S ECONOMIC

EMPOWERMENT THROUGH TRADE Development Case: • Women reinvest 90% on their income in their families, to men’s 30-40%, helping break inter-generational poverty• Positive impact of income distribution to women in rural areas (combating rural poverty, urban migration, climate change)• Successful business women become strong community leaders and role models for young women

Business Case: • Injecting competition into the supply chain improves business outcomes • Women are 50% of the innovation pool• «Forget China, India and the Internet: Economic growth is lead by women» - Economist 2006

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IDENTIFYING GAPS: NATIONAL EXPORT STRATEGIES AND VALUE CHAIN ANALYSIS

«The vision of the Uganda National Export Strategy was to create a more dynamic and competitve export-driven economy for national prosperity and develoment with more participation by women. This resulted in the commitment of resources to begin to address supply side challenges women face. And to enhance the participation of rural women in particular in national development and wealth creation.»- -

Rosemary Mutubale,

Business Advisory Services Enterprise Uganda

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OPPORTUNITY: PROCUREMENT

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• Increasing number of Fortune 500 companies in US targeting sourcing from women-owned enterprises

• Requirements for ‘first tier’ suppliers to also target sourcing from women

• Strong in USA – going global

• Budding interest of governments

• Delivers on commitments to gender equality, Women’s Empowerment Principle 5

GLOBAL PLATFORM FOR ACTION

on Sourcing from Women Vendors

• Launched in 2010• Women Vendors Exhibition & Forum • 300 participants• 19 countries• USD15m in sales• 6 – 7 November 2012 Mexico City• Apply! www.intracen.org/womenandtrade

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ACT NOW: POST 2015 DEVELOPMENT AGENDA- Focuses political attention, channeling human and finanicial

resources

- Influences work programmes of United Nations, governments, NGOs

Therefore:

- Critical need to ensure indicators capture impact on women’s economic empowerment

- Gender sensitive indicators at all levels in Goals

and in logframes: Impact – through Output

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FURTHER INFORMATION:

Meg Jones

Women and Trade Programme Manager

International Trade Centre

jones@intracen.org

+41 22 730 0166 (Office)

+41 79 288 0083 (Mobile)

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Thank you for joining us!

This seminar series is a product of USAID’s Knowledge-Driven Microenterprise Development (KDMD) project, implemented by The QED Group, LLC.

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Presenter Name:Caren GrownElena BardasiMeg Jones

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