Empowering Women Entrepreneurs – Mobilizing Women’s Economic Potential

2010 Annual Meetings Seminar, October 7, 2010

• Video Link  (1hr 17 minutes)

A society that ignores the abilities, energies, and intelligence of half its people fails them - and itself. This is not smart economics in normal times, and even worse in times of economic crisis.

Yet laws, regulations and customs often make it harder for women to get a job, or manage property, or conduct business, compared to men. Even when laws, regulations and institutions are seemingly gender neutral, they can have gender biased outcomes in practice, if such institutions are not designed with women's unique constraints in mind. As a result, women are much more likely to get hired informally, thereby earning less than men and missing out on legal protections and social benefits. The costs and benefits of addressing gender inequity - do not accrue to women alone.  Empowering women as workers and as entrepreneurs brings substantive benefits to their families, communities and the wider economy.

Some governments are legislating to reduce or remove legal differentiation between women and men in the marketplace, but there is still a long way to go:  only 20 of 128 economies surveyed by the World Bank Group have equal legal rights for men and women. New research shows that giving women more secure property rights in Africa could have a significant impact on their ability to raise money and grow their businesses. What's to be done? A new guide from the World Bank Group provides step by step advice on how to reform laws and institutions to empower women entrepreneurs.

• Key questions addressed included:
• What are the highest priority reforms to ensure gender equality in business and at work?
• What can regulators and legislators do to ensure that equality exists in the law and in practice?
• What role should the private sector play in these reforms? What can the private sector do to ensure more gender equality in the workforce? What does the private sector gain from promoting gender equality?
• How to move towards gender equality while respecting cultural norms? How can laws which derive from cultural and social norms be changed while respecting these norms?

Partnership Organizations: Global Banking Alliance for Women and Vital Voices 

Opening Remarks: 

Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Managing Director, World Bank Group

Moderator:

Andrée Simon, President, Women for Women International

Panelist(s):

Cherie Blair, Founder, The Cherie Blair Foundation for Women, United Kingdom
Leslie Lane, Vice President and Managing Director, Nike Foundation, United States
John Rwangombwa, Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, Rwanda