Women’s Economic Empowerment

Nicola Ross

Counsellor Program Strategy and Gender

Australian High Commission

Monday 30 April 2018

Economic Empowerment - 20 per cent

20%

56%

14%

8%

2%

2017-2018 Total by Intended Outcome

Women's EconomicEmpowerment

Violence Response and Services

Women’s Leadership and Influence

Enhance Knowledge andUnderstanding and M&E

Administration and Management

Progress towards outcomes

Short term outcomes

2014-2016

Intermediate outcomes

2017-2019

Long term outcomes

2020 onwards

Women’s Economic Empowerment

Increased capacity of women to

access formal employment and

business opportunities

Women have skills to access

formal employment and

business opportunities

Increased economic

opportunities for women

Private sector promotes gender

equity through its policies and

practices

More jobs for women in public

and private, formal and informal

sectors

Improved access to and safety

in markets

Increased numbers of women

employed

Increased productivity and

incomes

Women have improved

livelihoods

Increased number of women

making decisions at household

level on use of income and

assets

Key On track to achieve outcome Some progress made Not on track to achieve outcome

Improving women’s benefit from agricultural production

▪ Coffee Industry Support

Project, Eastern Highlands

▪ Family Teams Project,

Highlands, New Ireland and

Bougainville

▪ Kirapim Kaikai na Market,

working with women farmers

in the Tsak Valley

Strengthening private sector gender equity policies and practices

▪ Business Coalition for

Women

▪ Coffee Industry Support

Project

▪ UN Women Safe City

Project, NCD

▪ UN Women Safe Public

Transport Project, NCD

Building women entrepreneurs and supportive ecosystems

▪ Women’s Business Resource

Centre, NCD

▪ University curriculums to grow

entrepreneurs

Key achievements

Changing gender norms

Family-based approaches with farmer families

farmers are:

✓changing gender norms and breaking down gender-based task segregation

✓resulting in improved strategies for livelihood security

Key achievements Changing workplace policies and practices

Private sector partners have:

✓ invested in and promoted women employees

✓ adopted gender-smart safety practices

✓ changed workplace policies and practices

✓ employed more female extension officers

✓ elected women cooperative members to board

✓ changed approaches to delivering extension services to support women

Key achievements

Increased access to financial services business support and entrepreneurship

✓7,987 women have accessed financial education and information on financial services

✓PNG women want to build their business skills

✓PNG women have ideas for businesses

Key achievements

Influence and scaling up✓ Members of Parliament are investing in market

improvements

✓ NCDC established its10 year Market Strategy, market policies, bylaws and a market operations manual

✓ Three universities have developed entrepreneurship curriculum

✓ Supporting the development of the National Strategy on the Informal Economy to increase the voice of market vendors, including women

✓ Fresh Produce Development Agency deliver the Family Teams approach in other provinces

✓ International Finance Corporation develops locally contextualised tools to promote women’s participation and leadership in business for Solomon Islands and Fiji

Lessons learnt

✓Value of providing businesses tools to help make changes

✓Need to take family and household contexts into account – to understand the risks of violence

✓Need to think carefully about project approaches

✓Activities need to work, and report against, more than one outcome

Q&A