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2017/PPWE/SEM/011

Way Forward: Mainstreaming Women in Inclusive Business

Submitted by: Philippine Women’s Economic Network

Seminar on Women As Prime Movers of Inclusive Business

Hue, Viet Nam26 September 2017

Way Forward:

Mainstreaming Women in Inclusive Business

Ma. Aurora D. Geotina-Garcia Co-Chair, ASEAN Women Entrepreneurs Network (AWEN)

Chairperson, Philippine Women’s Economic Network (PhilWEN)

2017 APEC Seminar on Women as Prime Movers of Inclusive Business

26 September 2017

Photo credit: Oxfam America

Inclusive Business is Good Business

• Inequality undermines economic growth,

fractures society and the growing gap

between the rich and the poor has

become a roadblock to progress in all of

our economies.

• We must integrate the smaller players in

business. There is no trade-off between

an inclusive business profit and social

impact.

Business Leaders Must Care

Business leaders have a central role in creating an inclusive

business as job creators, providers of training and skills, and

investors in key physical and knowledge capital.

Investing in the bottom line and

committing to broader social

ends will mean more and better

resources for businesses to

draw on.

The Bottomline

As of 2015, only 13 out of 104 inclusive

business investments from

Asia Development Bank, Inter-

American Development Bank and

International Finance Corporation

investment portfolios explicitly

target women as beneficiaries.

Missing Women?

Source: Endeva Organization

Only 13 out of 104 inclusive business investments from

Asia Development Bank, Inter-American Development Bank and

International Finance Corporation investment portfolios explicitly

target women as beneficiaries.

Numbers Matter • Women still face many barriers to full and

productive participation in the labor market,

including discrimination, and culturally ingrained

ideas about gender roles, and their contribution is

not always equally valued.

• Women are an untapped source of talent and

productivity: when the potential of almost half the

population is not fully realized, this has

considerable implications for efficiency and

growth at the enterprise, sectoral, national, and

even international levels. Women represent half of the global

population

• Must incorporate gender sensitive

indicators into investment screening

• Must take the lead in creating and

implementing in-house programs that

will prepare, train and integrate

women at the Base of the Pyramid in

business organization’s value chains.

Business Sector

• Grant incentives for inclusive

businesses and women’s economic

empowerment.

• Work on government procurement

processes to ensure that MSMEs are

encouraged or even prioritized to

participate in public contracts. Make it

easier for them to be involved.

Public Sector

• Continue to work with the

government and business sector to

strengthen the ecosystem.

Civil Society and Advocacy Partners

It is our hope that, in time,

there would be no need to

convince anyone to adopt the

Inclusive Business Model

because inclusivity will be the

new normal.

Inclusive Business = The New Normal

No one gets left behind

Thank you!