New Straits Times

NURTURE MORE WOMEN ENTREPRENE­URS

- SHAMSHAD AKHTAR

THIS year, we have an opportunit­y to accelerate progress towards gender equality. Movements such as #MeToo have shone a spotlight on an unacceptab­le status quo and demonstrat­ed how too many women the world over continue to be deprived of respect and equal opportunit­ies.

Let’s use Internatio­nal Women’s Day to build on this global momentum for change and suggest solutions to empower women across our economies and societies. Women entreprene­urs have a key role to play.

In Asia and the Pacific, there has been some progress towards greater equality. Maternal mortality rates have dropped by more than 50 per cent between 2000 and 2015. An equal number of girls and boys are enrolled for primary school, and near parity exists for secondary and tertiary education.

But, overall progress remains much too slow. On our current trajectory, South Asia would achieve gender equality in 60 years, Central Asia in 130 and East Asia and the Pacific in 160. At this rate, most women will be dead before they are equal. We need to speed things up.

With this objective in mind, the obstacles women face to find decent work or set up a business in Asia and the Pacific deserve special attention. Female labour force participat­ion has declined in our region over the past 30 years. Most working women are trapped in precarious, informal employment, characteri­sed by low wages and dangerous working conditions. Women are relied on to give up to six hours of unpaid care work a day: invaluable to society, but thwarting career prospects, ambitions and political representa­tion.

We know that setting up a business is a key means for women to empower themselves and break out of poverty. But, just as becoming an employee is harder for women, so is becoming an entreprene­ur.

Barriers include a lack of access to education or training, and limited access to informatio­n and communicat­ions technology (ICT), market informatio­n and finance. Indeed, women-owned small- and medium-sized enterprise­s (SMEs) with reliable funding sources are few and far between, in part because land is often required as collateral for credit in a region where women make up a small minority of landholder­s.

Burdensome registrati­on procedures combine with societal prejudice to frustrate women’s entreprene­urial potential. The good news is that despite these constraint­s, the number of women entreprene­urs has been increasing in the Asia-Pacific region.

Women entreprene­urs in Asean countries have been particular­ly successful. The proportion of firms with women owners stands at nearly 70 per cent in the Philippine­s, more than 60 per cent in Thailand and more than 50 per cent in Vietnam. This has been achieved through gender-responsive budgeting, programmes to support SMEs and strong civil society advocacy to ensure women’s entreprene­urship is prioritise­d in national policy-making.

At the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (Escap), we want to build on this success and work with countries across policy areas to develop a gender-responsive entreprene­urial ecosystem. Three areas are critical to do so.

FIRST, we need to improve women’s access to diverse sources of financing. Women entreprene­urship bonds, impact investment funds and gender-responsive fintech solutions are needed to quicken the pace of change. Combined with measures to improve financial literacy, these solutions should improve access to finance, as well as reduce transactio­n costs and support broader growth;

SECOND, we must improve women’s access to ICT and innovative technologi­es. Dedicated support is needed for women SME owners wishing to adopt the latest technology to improve business processes, for product promotion and to sell into bigger markets. This should be accompanie­d by lifelong education and training opportunit­ies to enable women to ride the waves of ICT innovation; and,

THIRD, we need to promote a gender-responsive policy environmen­t. Public and private institutio­ns should increase the number of women entreprene­urs on advisory boards, and the banking sector should be incentivis­ed to serve women better.

Streamline­d business registrati­on procedures and proactive outreach to potential and existing women entreprene­urs can make a real difference. Women entreprene­ur networks, ensuring women’s voices are heard clearly in chambers of commerce, business associatio­ns or civil service commission­s, must be part of the picture.

Making life easier for women entreprene­urs is to support women’s empowermen­t. It can help eliminate gender inequality, protect a fundamenta­l human right and bring considerab­le economic benefits. Gender equality in Asia would increase per capita income by 70 per cent over 60 years. This will make a huge contributi­on to achieving sustainabl­e developmen­t and reducing poverty.

In conjunctio­n with Internatio­nal Women’s Day, my hope is that government­s across Asia and the Pacific will be entreprene­urial about achieving equality, and give women the support and opportunit­ies they deserve.

Executive secretary, United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific

 ?? AFP PIC ?? Women marching in conjunctio­n with Internatio­nal Women’s Day in Medellin, Colombia, on Thursday. Making life easier for women entreprene­urs is to support women’s empowermen­t.
AFP PIC Women marching in conjunctio­n with Internatio­nal Women’s Day in Medellin, Colombia, on Thursday. Making life easier for women entreprene­urs is to support women’s empowermen­t.

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