SEEKING POLICES AND PARTNERSHIPS THAT
PROMOTE WOMEN’S ECONOMIC EMPOWERMENT

There is no single recipe for success. Policymakers, international development organizations, investors, private corporations, and civil society organizations have deployed a variety of different instruments and methodologies to help women start up businesses. These range from entrepreneurial skills training, business development services and technical support, to capacity development and the provision of credit and investment funding, amongst others.Any policies that set out to help women
start their own businesses need to make more resources available to them. This could mean skills training in starting and managing businesses,loan schemes that are project- or idea-based rather than subject to ownership of assets as collateral, and technical assistance in addition to education to support the growth of women-led businesses.

Global Environment Facility

Global Environment Facility

Partnering with the MESD, UNIDO is carrying out a Global Environment Facility funded project to supply clean,energy-efficient cookstoves to women. The Organization is over seeing the installation of 500 cookstoves in the Plateau-Central region of the country. The programme will also set up a credit line provided by a regional African bank to allow the dolotières to buy the cookstoves. In total, the project will reach 1,600 women targeted in four clusters. By bringing together groups of women,they will benefit from collective gains that should stimulate the growth of the sector and make it easier for them to access credit.The new cookstoves should also reduce the workload for women and girls and improve their safety by reducing their exposure to burning wood fumes. By expanding opportunities as well as access to sustainable energy, resources, training and credit, the project empowers women and enhances gender equality.

income for rural women

income for rural women

Locally produced millet beer,or dolo, has for generations been an important source of income for rural women in Burkina Faso, with thousands of home-based breweries spread across the country.The beer has traditionally been brewed by ‘dolotières’ using old-style cookstoves which eat up large amounts of firewood due to their low combustion rate. According to the Ministry of
Environment and Sustainable Development (MESD), firewood used in the brewing process accounts for 50% of total firewood consumption in the capital, Ouagadougou. This has clear environmental consequences and is also detrimental to the health of the women who breathe in harmful smoke while they work.

BREAKING DOWN THE BARRIERS

BREAKING DOWN THE BARRIERS

Businesses across the globe are nurtured and supported through complex interwoven structures reflected in laws and policies, cultural and societal norms and education and training systems. Men and women, however, are not on an even footing within these structures. For this to change women need equal access to credit to invest and expand their business ventures, equal access to markets to sell and develop their products, and equal opportunities to acquire skills, knowledge and technology. Ultimately, by treating women equally to men as potential entrepreneurs, they would be in a better position to contribute to economic growth and development.

poverty and promote female economic empowerment

poverty and promote female economic empowerment

Women’s creative ability has often gone unnoticed or underutilised.With the right support,craft industry can play a pivotal role in the economy. UNIDO's Women Entrepreneurship Development Programme, funded under the Joint UN Programme “Towards Gender Parity in Pakistan”,recognises that expanding employment and creating economic opportunities for women is one of the most effective ways to alleviate poverty and promote female economic empowerment.The Business Growth Centre, established by UNIDO, is aimed at enhancing the ability, mobility, visibility, and connectivity of women entrepreneurs.Gender equality is at the centre of the development process supported by the UN in Pakistan and hence the strategy focuses on finding ways to include women in the traditionally male-dominated sectors of
the economy.

workshops for women

workshops for women

Setting up workshops for women in the four regions, UNIDO helped to improve social inclusion and equality of opportunity. Overall, providing support to traditional creative industries, which are a priority for Peru, has had tangible effects on women’s empowerment by putting decision-making in women’s hands and giving them the skills they need to grow their businesses.

supporting networks of women

supporting networks of women 

Financing from the MDG Fund, UNIDO teamed up with five other UN agencies to help develop these creative industries by supporting networks of women and indigenous communities and by providing training on better manufacturing techniques and marketing. Over 65% of those participating in the initiative are women, who also run half of the small businesses across the four regions targeted. All producers received training in how to improve their products and were also helped to come up with new designs that took account of their cultural heritage.