Theme 2

Employment Opportunities through Enterprise Development and Job Creation

Building Entrepreneurship: Private Sector-led Access to Technology, Inputs, and Markets | May 24, 4:30 PM – 6:00 PM, Room A
 Chaired by Winrock International

Join Winrock International in a collaborative and dynamic session, “shark-tank” style. Winrock and Advanced Chemical Industries (ACI) Limited will share their path to a successful partnership empowering thousands of rural women in Bangladesh. Discussants from Winrock’s Feed the Future Bangladesh Women’s Empowerment Activity and ACI Limited will explain how the partnership has increased women’s entrepreneurial opportunity and equipped them with the skills to thrive in a market system. After learning about the partnership, participants will explore a scenario in which they represent either public or private stakeholders and will pitch partnership ideas with the goal of securing a match.

Speakers
Zainab Akther, Winrock International
Shamim Murad, ACI Agribusiness
Marian Parsons, USAID

Building Entrepreneurship Presentation

Leering, Sexting, Groping: Addressing Sexual Harassment in the Garment Sector | May 23, 2:30 PM – 4:15 PM, Connections 2
 Chaired by CARE Cambodia

As many as one in three women working in the Cambodian garment industry experience sexual harassment. Yet young, unskilled women have few employment options. Often urban migrants, factory workers are under pressure to keep their jobs and provide for their families.

Sexual harassment is deeply rooted in patriarchal social norms, undermines gender equality and erodes decent work. In Cambodia, legal protections are weak and understanding of what is acceptable behavior is poor, with even women themselves internalizing norms that justify tolerance for sexual harassment.  Employers are the first line of defense, yet their willingness to address sexual harassment is limited by lack of sensitivity and understanding, disinterest, limited authority and capacity, perceived cost to business, and fear of admitting a problem to buyers up the supply chain.

Learn how CARE is engaging with the sector to say “Sexual Harassment Stops Here!” Dive into the tools and approaches CARE has developed using a holistic approach and inclusive stakeholder engagement, including video dramas, karaoke, consultative policy development, interactive training, research and campaigns.

We’ll share with you our journey as we overcome different levels of cultural, financial and organizational barriers to steer buy-in, commitment and ownership amongst factory management and workers.  Through case studies, you will have an opportunity to join us and contribute your ideas and expertise on how we can take these exciting tools to the next level, and up the supply chain, to create further momentum and drive change.

Speakers
Adriana Siddle, CARE Cambodia
Supraja Suresh, Independent Consultant
Kalyan Rath, CARE Cambodia
Hannah Lee, CARE Australia

More than Persistence: What Does it Take to Become a Successful Entrepreneur? | May 24, 4:30 PM – 6:00 PM, Connections 2
 Chaired by ACDI/VOCA

What does it take to be a successful entrepreneur? It takes more than having something to sell! Promoting women’s entrepreneurship within market systems needs to focus on women’s access and agency. It requires addressing key leverage points in the enabling environment as well as building individual capacity. Skills, self-efficacy, confidence, and collaboration with other women are frequently identified by women themselves as a ‘game-changer.’ The session looks at different support components to empower new and existing women entrepreneurs, including skills, market linkages, and supporting a business environment that works for women, as well as generating cost-effective evidence on empowerment.

Speakers
Jenn Williamson, ACDI/VOCA
Lis Meyers, Banyan Global
Sabine Garbarino, Adam Smith International

Additional Materials
Zambia Profit + Project Highlights
WEIA Intervention Guide
ACDI/VOCA Zambia Profit + CA Report
Learning for Gender Integration and Women’s Empowerment: The Feed the Future PROFIT+ Project, Zambia
Seven Secrets to Designing Gender Responsive Programs
Gender Empowerment & Nutrition Transformation Led Through Market Driven Community Extension:
Poster 1 – Community Agro Dealer
Poster 2 – Community Agro Dealer = Community Clout
Poster 3 – Outcomes
GEMS3 Women’s Economic Empowerment Learning Series: Case Study 2

More than Persistence Presentation

Strengthening Opportunities for Women in Nontraditional Sectors: Applying Theory to Practice | May 24, 11:45 AM – 1:15 PM, Connections 2
 Chaired by Nathan Associates & Creative Associates International

All over the world, certain fields of employment and entrepreneurship — particularly those involving Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (“STEM”) — are vastly dominated by men. Women’s participation in “nontraditional” sectors is constrained by low expectations, limited access to skills, inadequate advancement opportunities, and unequal law and policy. Dismantling these barriers requires transformation of enabling environments and development of new, more inclusive norms through innovative and nontraditional approaches. This session will introduce frameworks for reform, followed by a case study of how innovative programs in nontraditional technical and vocational education and training (TVET) have helped women access, participate, and demonstrate competence in nontraditional fields. The session will also address roles played by the private sector, communities and families.

Speakers
Jackie Ogega, Creative Associates International
Louise Williams, Nathan Associates, Inc.
Caroline Rubin, Nathan Associates, Inc.

Shaping Futures: Approaches and Experiences with Building Girls’ Skills for Employability in India | May 23, 11:30 AM – 1:00 PM, Room C
 Chaired by Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

There is a dearth of evidence from programs that build adolescent girls’ skills for education and employability. This session will outline the context, trends and barriers women’s labor force participation and skills development in India, and will present evidence and insights from different approaches to create better economic and educational outcomes for young women. The panelists will examine existing programming and gaps for skills development and employability for girls and women. They will present innovative ideas, new approaches and hurdles to build girls’ agency to plan for their future, and will discuss the emerging evidence on programs to skill adolescent girls for employability and entrepreneurship and make a successful transition to adulthood. The panel will also discuss new directions for researchers and practitioners, as they review existing gaps and share insights for future programming, policy and research in this area.

Speakers
Diva Dhar, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Priya Nanda, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Randeep Kaur, Room to Read
Charity Troyer Moore, Harvard Kennedy School
Ravi Verma, International Center for Research on Women

Leveraging Economic Opportunities for Disadvantaged Women Entrepreneurs in Asia and Latin America | May 23, 11:30 AM – 1:00 PM, Room A
 Chaired by The Asia Foundation

Across Asia and Latin America, women continue to face a range of barriers that limit their ability to start and grow businesses, and migrant and ethnic minority women face unique challenges as a result of isolation, dislocation and discrimination. This session will explore successes, lessons learned and challenges to supporting disadvantaged women entrepreneurs start and grow businesses with case studies supporting entrepreneurship among migrant women in China, migrant and ethnic minority women in Malaysia, and Indigenous and African-American communities in Colombia. The interactive session will be designed as a knowledge café, come to learn and share your insights too.

Speakers
Elizabeth Silva, The Asia Foundation
Pamela Escobar, Plan International Colombia
Chen Tingting, The Asia Foundation
Anusuya Krishnan, National Association for Women Entrepreneurs of Malaysia

Additional Materials
Empowering Migrant Women as Entrepreneurs in China
Film Clip – The Asia Foundation

Leveraging Economic Opportunities Presentation

Accounting for Care: WEE Policies and Programs Under the Spotlight | May 24, 11:45 AM – 1:15 PM, Connections 1
 Chaired by International Development Research Centre (IDRC)

What can states and private actors do ensure that women’s entry into paid employment doesn’t jeopardize their own nor their children’s human development opportunities? How can they contribute promoting pathways for the empowerment of women and girls that are optimised, shared across families and sustained across generations? We will address these questions by exploring how WEE programmes can, and do take into account the social organisation of care (including childcare). Discussions will focus on findings from research projects in India and Nepal, in contexts where state and non state actors are promoting women’s paid work opportunities in the informal sector.

Speakers
Mubashira Zaidi, Institute of Social Studies Trust
Anweshaa Ghosh, Institue of Social Studies Trust
Parul Agarwal, Institute for Financial Management and Research (IFMR LEAD)
Deepta Chopra, Institute of Development Studies