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2018/PPWE/DIA/006

Practices of Women Empowerment for Sustainable Economic Development

Submitted by: Public Diplomacy Foundation Women’ View

Public-Private Dialogue on Women and the Economy

Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea6 September 2018

PRACTICES OF WOMEN EMPOWERMENT FOR SUSTAINABLE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

VERONIKA PESHKOVA

President, Public Diplomacy Foundation Women’ View

Women provide

a key

contribution to

the economic

success of the

Asia-Pacific

region

Approximately 600 million women are in the labor force

Over 60 percent engaged in the formal sector

Women account for nearly 30% of all business owners and managers

In Asia-Pacific region:

11% of companies have no women in senior management positions

68 % of companies account for less than 30% of senior managers in 68%

26% of companies have no women on Boards

Source: ILO survey in 2015

Strong female leadership:

36.4% average increasein return on equity forcompanies

$28 trillion as theestimated increase inglobal GDP

Although most

APEC economies

have laws in

place to protect

women from

dismissal if they

become pregnant

or take maternity

leave

• only 7 economies guarantee a mother’s right to an equivalent position when returning to work.

• Only 4 economies provide tax deductions for childcare payments,

• Only 3 economies have made it illegal for employers to ask about family status during a job interview

Source: 2016 research by APEC

Best Practices to

Encourage

IMPLEMENT FLEXIBLE

WORK OPTIONS

LEADERSHIP FLEXIBILITIES

LEADERSHIP TRAININGS

FOR WOMEN

ENTREPRENEURSHIP ACTIVITY

7Source: GEM, 2016 /2017

Female Total Entrepreneurial Activity and

Entrepreneurial Intentions on the rise but the

gap remains high especially in MENA and Asia

0

60

Europa and CentralAsia

North America East and South Asiaand Pacific

Latin America and theCaribbean

Middle East and NorthAfrica

Sub - Saharan Africa

Entrepreneurial Intentions versus Total Entrepreneurial Activity Rate by region ( in % of female population aged 18 to 64)

Female Intentions

Female TEA

Women

entrepreneurship

support

activities

Educational support

Entrepreneurship popularization

International cooperation

Special financial products for

women

GR activity

EDUCATIONAL PROJECT “MOM-

ENTREPRENEUR”

• TARGET AUDIENCE: WOMEN WITH UNDER AGE CHILDREN

• PROJECT FORMAT: FREE BUSINESS BASICS AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP TRAININGS

• KEY PARTNER: RUSSIAN SMALL AND MEDIUM BUSINESS CORPORATION

• LOCATIONS: 7 REGIONS OF RUSSIA IN 2016, 20 REGIONS IN 2017, 56 REGIONS IN 2018

Women

entrepreneurship for

territory development

Improving competitiveness of export-oriented industries in Armenia

Initiated by Russia run by UNIDO

Integration of local produces into the international value-chain

New jobs and educational support for women

Some of

the major

recent

PPWE

projects

and

initiatives:

The APEC Business Efficiency and Success Target Awards

The APEC Women’s Business Smart Technology Seminar

The APEC Women in STEM initiative

WE-APEC

The APEC Measurement of Change

APEC BUSINESS EFFICIENCY

AND SUCCESS TARGET

“APEC BEST AWARD”

AIMED TO SUPPORT AND PROMOTE WOMEN ENTREPRENEURIAL PRACTICES IN APEC ECONOMIES

INITIATED IN 2015

STARTED IN LIMA PERU IN 2016

RUN IN VIETNAM IN 2017 AND IN PNG IN 2018

FORMED WOMEN BEST PRACTICES CATALOGUE

Women entrepreneurship for sustainable

economic development

Strengthening women-run

businesses

• Enhancing MSME competitiveness and promoting their internationalization

• Creating favorable business environment that stimulates innovation, entrepreneurship and promotes good corporate governance

• Facilitating MSME access to international markets and global value chains

• Promoting human development in the digital era

• Cooperation with international organizations, unions and platforms in women economic empowerment