UNIDO: A Global Platform for the Development of Womens - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

UNIDO: A Global Platform for the Development of Women‘s Entrepreneurship

Monica Carco Senior Industrial Development Officer Second Eurasian Women’s Forum 20 September 2018, St. Petersburg, Russia

UNIDO’s mandate to promote ISID

• In the Lima Declaration of 2013,

Member States endorsed UNIDO’s ISID mandate

• Through improved integration

and scale up of services and assistance, UNIDO contributes to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals

• ISID is confirmed in SDG 9 but

contributes to the Agenda 2030 as a whole

Rationale for women economic empowerment

• In 2018, the global women’s labour force participation rate is still 26.5%

below the rate of their male counterparts

• Lowest female established business ownership rate (in % of female

population aged 18 to 64): 3% = 1/3 the rate of men (GEM 2015-2016)

• Women continue to face a number of challenges in realizing their

economic potential:

• Limited access to education and qualitative support structures
• Limited access to capital and recruitment
• Limited access to new and international markets
• Work-life balance
• Cultural barriers, stereotypes and preconceptions
• Negative self-perception with regards to capacities and skills regarding

communication, networking, consulting and decision making

UNIDO Technical Paper, Promoting Women Empowerment for Inclusive and Sustainable Industrial Development in the Middle East and North Africa region, 2017

Gender equality at the core of UNIDO’s ISID mandate

UNIDO policies and strategies on gender equality and the empowerment of women:

• Effective gender mainstreaming within UNIDO and in its technical

assistance

• Gender equality in any project activities where relevant with clear

results-oriented framework and plan of action (recruitment, budget allocation, training, beneficiary targeting, indicators, expected results, etc.)

• Has set an example for similar initiatives, such as the development
• f UNIDO’s Youth Strategy

UNIDO’s integrated approach to women’s economic empowerment

• Moringa-based livelihoods for rural women in Ethiopia
• Creative industries in rural communities in Madagascar
• Women economic empowerment in the fishery sector, and improved

access to finance through mobile money in Mali

• Renewable energy based mini-grids for productive uses in the Gambia
• Promoting women economic empowerment in the MENA region
• Vocational training for Syrian refugees in Turkey
• Business and technology skills in cooperation with HP Life in Tunisia
• Entrepreneurs for Social Change in the Euro-Mediterranean basin

Action-oriented cooperation between UNIDO and the Russian Federation

• 2017: Interregional Forum “Women’s Entrepreneurship –

Challenges and Solutions in Europe and the Arab region”

• 2018: International Forum “Increasing the contribution of

women to economic growth and prosperity: Creating an enabling environment” in cooperation with the OPORA Russia Committee on Women’s Entrepreneurship Development

Global forum

• Competitiveness of export-oriented garment

manufacturers in Armenia under joint brand “5900 BC”

• Competitiveness of carpet-weaving and

embroidery/textiles industries in Tajikistan

Technical assistance

Skills development (COMFAR, ECP, vocational training LKDF, Start and Grow, HP Life) Access to finance (revolving fund, credit guarantee scheme, mobile, peer-to-peer) Value chain approach (identification, assessment and development)

Methodologies and tools

Promoting Women’s Empowerment for ISID in the MENA region (Phase 1)

• Funded by the Government of Italy, and labelled by the UfM
• National Counterparts: Ministries of Industry of the targeted countries and Women Business

Associations in Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Palestine and Tunisia

• Target Beneficiaries: Women’s Business Associations and women entrepreneurs (and aspiring

entrepreneurs)

• Duration: 39 months (Feb 2015 – May 2018)
• Project Cost : EUR 1.4 M
• Scope: Enhance women’s economic inclusion and

create the conditions for a sustainable and inclusive growth by harnessing the potential of women entrepreneurs.

PWE - MENA

Institutional and organizational framework

PWE - MENA

Expected Outcomes

PWE - MENA

Public key actors initiate a reform process, based on an inclusive dialogue with National Women Business Associations, to promote a more conducive environment for women entrepreneurship The National Women’s Business Associations of the MENA Region offer more efficient demand-driven services to support women entrepreneurs in the region on a sustainable basis

More sustainable women-led businesses are established or developed in the MENA region

Macro level Meso level Micro level

Results from Phase 1

Macro: Policy dialogue and knowledge

• 8 regional conferences and round tables
• Survey carried out on 1410 women entrepreneurs
• Study on women entrepreneurship published in English, French and Arabic
• Benchmarking analysis identifying replicable good practices

Meso: capacities of business associations

• 177 trained on COMFAR Lite, including 11 certified as trainers
• Creation of the WEAM consortium
• Technical tours, and participation in international/regional events facilitating B2B

Micro: enterprise creation

• 276 women assisted in business proposal formulation, and 170 projects

promoted (40% in the Agro-Industry sector, 12% Handicrafts, 12% Services)

• 550 B2B meetings organized for 120 MENA entrepreneurs during Milan

Expo 2015 and MEDAWEEK 2017

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Investment promotion

Transfer of UNIDO’s Investment Promotion Methodology for the identification and promotion of business opportunities

+44% in provision of advisory services (incl. business plan formulation), +70% in facilitation of business linkages, promotion and networking, + 29% in membership

(calculated on data provided by 4 associations 2015/2016)

PWE - MENA

Networks and partnerships

6 partnerships concluded and 25 business negotiations initiated as a result of the B2B meetings held during Milan Expo (Milan 2015) and Barcelona MedaWeek 2017. In Palestine and Lebanon, 88% of women assisted in their negotiations with banks/MFIs/grant have succeeded in mobilizing funds.

PWE - MENA

Phase II at a glance

• Joint program with FAO and UN Women
• 3 years duration, with €15M

The business environment is more conducive for women participation in the economic life of their countries Financial barriers to women’s entrepreneurship are alleviated Women-led Micro- Small and Medium Enterprises are better integrated into the local, regional and international markets Women have increased the quality and quantity of their products/services in selected gender-sensitive value chains

Expected Outcomes

PWE - MENA

The way forward

Policy dialogue, advocacy and networking Knowledge creation and management, resource pooling Technical assistance (e.g.

• nline/offline

capacity building)

Thank you!

m.carco@unido.org