Women’s Leadership in SMEs: Gaps & Opportunities

Women’s Leadership in SMEs: Gaps & Opportunities June 8, 2012 Women’s Leadership in SMEs: Gaps and Opportunities Caren GrownUSAID Elena Bardasi The World Bank Meg Jones International Trade Centre

BIO: Caren Grown 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.

GRAPH: Number of Formal Owned Women’s SMEs

BIO: Elena Bardasi 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: Meg Jones 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.

Growing economies through women’s entrepreneurship: Gaps and Opportunities Meg Jones, Women and Trade Programme Manager, ITC Seminar& Webinarorganised by USAID 8 June 2012

OVERVIEW Introduction to the International Trade Centre (ITC) Identifying Gaps: - National Export Strategies - Gender-sensitive value-chainanalysis IdentifyingOpportunities: - Linkingwomen entrepreneurs to supplychains - Building capacity, measuringresults Actnow for impact!

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.

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: Economicgrowthis lead by women» - Economist 2006

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

OPPORTUNITY: PROCUREMENT • 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

ACT NOW: POST 2015 DEVELOPMENT AGENDA Focusespolitical attention, channelinghuman and finanicialresources Influences work programmes of United Nations, governments, NGOs Therefore: - Criticalneed to ensureindicators capture impact on women’seconomicempowerment Gender sensitive indicatorsat all levels in Goals and in logframes: Impact – through Output

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)

Thank you! Please take our 3 minute survey: http://bit.ly/LyYn1l You can also visit the event page to post comments & questions. Presenter Name: Caren Grown Elena Bardasi Meg Jones Contact Us: wlsme@kdid.org Subscribe today: kdid.org/wlsme Find upcoming events & past presentations: kdid.org/wlsme

Women’s Leadership in SMEs: Gaps & Opportunities