Women in Business IFC Sustainability Circle Monday 21st January 2013 Lindi Hlanze, Economic Adviser, DFID
The status of women in business 60 Key challenges for women: lack of access to education, skills, information, decent work, markets, finance and other resources, as well as discriminatory gender norms such as segregated occupations and sectors, unpaid work burdens. 50 40 30 20 East Asia & Pacific Eastern Europe & Central Asia High-income OECD Latin America & Caribbean Middle East & North Africa South Asia Global average 10 0 OWNERS MANAGERS EMPLOYEES % firms with female participation in ownership % firms with a female top manager % permanent full-time workers that are female Source: World Bank Enterprise Surveys: http://www.enterprisesurveys.org based on latest available year of country survey data
The business case: why should we invest? Economic growth Directly: more and better labour and innovation, higher tax revenues Indirectly: greater investment in productivity of future generations Return on equity/productivity Among Fortune 500 companies, those in the top quartile in women s representation on their boards outperform those in the lowest quartile by at least 53% on return on equity. Reducing staff turnover e.g. a Vietnamese garment factory that saw a 30% decrease in staff turnover rates after introducing a kindergarten Enhancing company image/corporate social responsibility Access to new market segments - better understanding of consumer tastes, preferences, needs Eliminating barriers preventing women from entering certain sectors or occupations could increase output per worker by 13 to 25 per cent References: Kabeer, N. and L. Natali (forthcoming), Joy et al (2007), IFC Jobs Study 2013, Cuberes et al. (2011).
How can we promote women in business? Resources - improve access to: Institutions reforms/investment in: Shift social and cultural norms: Finance, technology etc Legal and regulatory provisions e.g. inheritance rights, right to register a business, own property, open a bank account Promote board diversity, gendersensitisation training, reduce workforce segregation (where feasible) Information: sex-disaggregated data and evidence, networks Infrastructure and basic services e.g. time and labour saving investment to reduce unpaid care work burden, training and skills Enhance mobility, entry into more productive sectors and jobs. Inputs to production Support services and workplace Design gender-sensitive products flexibility e.g. childcare, home-working, and services advice
Example programmes and research Jobs and labour standards Responsible and Accountable Garments (RAGS) challenge fund - NGOs and companies matchedgrants to improve working conditions for women in existing garment production in India, Bangladesh and Lesotho supplying UK market. Business Innovation Fund technical assistance supported Care and Danone s creation of a rural sales force comprising 2,800 destitute women in Bangladesh ( Aparajitas ), to increase by 12,000 by 2014. Capturing the Gains - research on economic and social upgrading from global production networks & trade with international network of experts and private sector stakeholders. UN Global Compact/UN Women: Women Empowerment Principles. Punjab Economic Opportunities Programme (PEOP) - provides market-based skills to 125,000 poor people of which 40% will be women (to enhance dairy quality and yields and improve market linkages). IFC Global SME Finance Initiative - will provide finance to over 200,000 SMEs across 15 DFID priority countries, with at least 25% of loans reaching women-headed SMEs. Training and skills Financial inclusion Enabling Vietnam s Third Rural Transportation programme - creates employment for ethnic minority women in infrastructure rural road maintenance and trained 1,533 female rural transportation managers. Investment climate Afghan Climate Investment Facility (AICF) - supporting reforms that will include benefits for women including reducing unnecessary red tape, increasing access to credit, improving land use, strengthening property rights and commercial dispute resolution, strengthening labour market, customs and taxation systems, reducing corruption, and facilitating public private partnerships in infrastructure and agriculture. Networks Data & evidence In the Middle East and North Africa region, through the UK s G8/Deauville Presidency, the Deauville Women s Initiative will strengthen partnerships between Arab and G8 business women and support women s role in the economies of Deauville Countries. IFC Jobs Study identifies the most binding constraints to job creation, including for women and youth, and recommends action for development agencies, private sector, government and others. Women, Business and the Law : Removing barriers to economic inclusion differentiatial regulations and institutions between men and women which affect their ability to start, own and run a business. Evidence and Data for Gender Equality (EDGE) initiative to enhance sex disaggregated data collection. Private Enterprise Development in Low Income Countries (PEDL) research incorporating gender particularly under Dynamics of MSMEs: information & entrepreneurship.