A publication of International Finance Corporation's Gender Program
Third Quarter Edition, Global Newsletter: July 2008
Introduction
IFC's gender program welcomes you to its fifteenth quarterly newsletter designed to keep businesswomen in touch with key events, relevant research and, most importantly, each other! We provide brief descriptions of news, events, and online resources that will involve, inspire and inform you and others like you. Wherever possible and appropriate, we provide a link to further detail.
The issue's highlights include news of IFC and World Bank Group activities (including IFC participation at the Global Summit of Women in Vietnam), news reports from other sources (including the Kauffman Foundation finding that women's entrepreneurship levels have dropped to a ten-year low in the United States), upcoming events around the globe (including the annual summit of the Global Banking Alliance for Women) and links to useful resources (including the Women in Technology International teleclasses and webinars). Our regular spotlight this issue falls on the Siwa Artisanship Women's Development Initiative in Egypt, which has successfully tapped into women's embroidery skills in Egypt's Siwa Oasis.
This newsletter shares helpful news and information with women entrepreneurs around the world. If you or your business association have an event you would like to make known, have a success story to share, or would like to tell us what you would like to read more about, please e-mail us. This newsletter is for YOU and we want to get you involved.
News from IFC's Gender Program and the World Bank Group
World Bank Makes 6 New Commitments on Gender Equality At this year's annual spring meetings in April, the World Bank Group committed to increasing its support to women entrepreneurs through IFC. The goal is for IFC to channel at least US$100 million in credit lines through commercial banks to women entrepreneurs by 2012. Read more...
Global Summit of Women Brings Together Women Leaders in Vietnam Participants from around the world gathered this June in Vietnam for the 18th Global Summit of Women. Held under the theme "Women and Asia: Driving the Global Economy," the summit explored topics such as engaging young women in entrepreneurship, closing the pay gap, and micro-enterprise. During a special session, IFC discussed how it can help women grow their business. Read more...
Access Bank Wins New Gender Award from Nigeria's Bankers Association IFC client Access Bank won the award this April as part of Nigerian Bankers' Awards, organized by Vanguard Newspapers. The award recognized the bank's performance in empowering women, targeting projects and training to women customers, and ensuring special consideration for women in the workplace.Read more...
IFC Focuses on Women Entrepreneurs in Conflict-Affected Areas As part of its increased focus on women in conflict-affected areas, IFC organized a learning session this June to explore emerging lessons from its work to date in Afghanistan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Iraq, Liberia, and Rwanda. A representative from the Initiative for Inclusive Security – Hunt Alternatives Fund, shared lessons of their complementary efforts on women's political empowerment. Read more...
IFC's Gender Program Introduces Women's Banking at NBS Bank in Malawi This April IFC's Gender Program ran a series of training sessions for staff at NBS Bank in Blantyre, Malawi to strengthen their customer service to women entrepreneurs. The bank signed a US$3 million loan and advisory services package with IFC in 2007 to increase its outreach to the small and medium enterprise (SME) sector. For more information, contact Natalie Africa.
The Percentage of U.S. Women Starting Their Own Businesses Drops to a 10-year Low A new Kauffman Foundation report has found that men are now twice as likely as women to start up businesses, accounting for the largest gap in a decade. Based on the Kauffman Index of Entrepreneurial Activity, the study finds that the female entrepreneurial rate dropped from 0.23 percent in 2006 to 0.2 percent in 2007. Read more...
Women's eNews 21 Leaders Gala Honors Leaders This May, Women's eNews honored 20 women and a man at their annual 21 Leaders for the 21st Century Benefit Gala Dinner in New York. Honorees include: Anucha Browne Sanders who won $11.6 million in punitive damages for being sexually harassed by a professional basketball coach; Doris Buffett who started the Sunshine Lady Foundation that has awarded US$50 million in grants to end cycles of abuse and poverty; and Daisy Khan who created the Women's Islamic Initiative in Spirituality and Equity, a global Muslim women's network to positively influence the Western perception of Muslim women. Read more...
"Gender and Corruption in Development Cooperation" Call for Papers Scheduled for November near Frankfurt am Main, Germany, this workshop aims to explore avenues for integrating gender-related aspects into anti-corruption efforts. Results are expected to be integrated into development cooperation projects and relevant international processes.Deadline for abstract submission is August 1.Read more... (PDF)
Denmark and Germany Increase Funding for Gender Equality This April the Danish government hosted a conference on Millennium Development Goal # 3 on gender equality and the economic empowerment of women in Copenhagen. Attended by Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, President of Liberia, and Luisa Dias Diogo, Prime Minister of Mozambique, as well as high-level World Bank representatives, the conference resulted in significant new donor commitments. Read more...
Accelerating the Growth and Success of Businesses Owned by Women of Color Newly released research on the impact of race and color on business success, conducted by the Center for Women's Business Research and Babson College shows that as of 2008, there are 1.9 million firms owned by women of color, employing 1.2 million workers and bringing in US$165 billion in revenues. Read more...
Healthy Women: Healthy Business: HERproject HERproject strives to improve women's health by providing health education and services to female factory workers in China, India, Indonesia, Pakistan, and Vietnam. The initiative recently partnered with Nordstrom, a major American retailer, to address health issues in five factories in the Guangdong province in China, and shared emerging lessons at a conference in June in Vietnam. Read more...
SIWA Artisanship Women's Development Initiative, Egypt Located on the border between Libya and Egypt, the Siwa Oasis is one of the largest desert environments in the world. It is an area of pristine beauty, where traditional handicrafts and beautiful embroidery woven by local women are an important source of livelihood. Tapping into this skill became the focus of an initiative, sponsored by the IFC and the Egyptian-based Environmental Quality International (EQI) since 2001. The program promoted sustainable development by supporting investments in ecotourism, women's artisanship, sustainable agriculture, and renewable energy.
EQI started by upgrading embroidery skills of 50 Siwan women, but eventually expanded its training to 300 women. The project worked well for the women, as it accommodated Siwan traditions and allowed them to do the work from their homes together with other women.
The products became a quick success. With an influx of tourists to the Siwa Oasis, haute couture designers took a liking to the elaborate embroidery. Soon enough, the women's products were being sold through two exclusive lines – Siwa Creations and Ermano Scervinno - and were appearing at catwalks in Milan and in high-end outlets in Rome, Paris and London. Intrigued by the story, international media organizations, such as CNN and BBC, featured shows on Italian women wearing the Siwa-embroidered haute couture line. This visibility has been a source of new pride and confidence for the Siwa women. Moreover, through their weaving, women artisans are now able to earn as much as, if not more than, Siwan men. For more information, visit the Siwa Creations website or an IFC evaluation of the women's artisanship component.
In each newsletter we spotlight either a women's business association that has developed an innovative idea, a process that promotes women's entrepreneurship, or an enterprising woman who has achieved success. If you have a success story to share, please email us with the details. We look forward to sharing your stories.
IFC's gender program is looking for women and men experienced in the field of private sector development and gender for future short-term assignments. If you have relevant experience and would like to be included in our database, please email us.