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INDIA. South Asia Context. Half of the countries in the region have less than 50% participation of women in the workforce. Only 9.8% of women in India own land, despite their immense participation in agriculture. - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
INDIA
South Asia Context
Half of the countries in the region have less than 50% participation of women in the workforce.
Only 9.8% of women in India own land, despite their immense participation in agriculture.
According to UN Women: Limits on women’s participation in the workforce across the region cost the regional economy up to an estimated US$89 billion every year.
SAWES Background
In December 2012, the U.S. Department of State organized the two-day South Asia Women’s Entrepreneurship Symposium (SAWES) in Dhaka, Bangladesh, to discuss ways to expand the participation of women in South Asia in entrepreneurial activities.
SAWES provided an opportunity for 120 women entrepreneurs from 11 countries in South Asia and Central Asia to network, discuss cross border business linkages, and expand business and leadership roles for women in the region.
SAWES ACTION RECOMMENDATIONS
Economic empowerment through entrepreneurship and trade
Creating enabling environment for women’s entrepreneurship
Women, entrepreneurship and governance
Women, technology and innovation
SAWES Stakeholders
SAWES Activities 2013-2014/15
Build a South Asia Businesswomen Networking Forum that is connected to the WES Network through social media.
SAWES Facebook page has over 30,000 Likes
The page is dynamic and we receive queries to join the SAWES network from women entrepreneurs from across the region
SAWES Activities
Informal country-level assessments and mapping of business associations and chambers of commerce.
Mapping of business associations have been done by TAF offices in each of the five countries where SAWES is being implemented
SAWES Activities
Support the SAWES Network and strengthen linkages between participant countries
Regular conference calls with the Steering CommitteeRegular interactions with country working groupsExposure Visits: Sri Lanka, India and Bangladesh
SAWES Activities
Workshop, networking, and public-private dialogues: business development and engagement in regional trade and building cross-border business connectionsIn-country workshops on public-private dialogues
Online B2B Portal for women entrepreneurs from across South Asia and possibly Central Asia
Webinars on capacity building for women entrepreneurs
Small grants component
• Small grants (10-40K) for projects in Bangladesh, India, Maldives, Nepal and Sri Lanka
• Focus on advancing regional trade for women
• Projects can also focus on advancing cross-border trade with Pakistan and Afghanistan (or countries in Central Asia)
• Solicitation will begin in March 2014
SAWES Activities
SAWES IMPACT
Over 30,000 people on the SAWES Facebook Innovative regional collaborations facilitated through
the exposure tour: eWIT- BWIT; Banana Fiber products Development of B2B portal for women entrepreneurs
across the region and possibly Central Asia Strengthened networks of women entrepreneurs in
Bangladesh, India, Maldives, Nepal and Sri Lanka through the SAWES SC and in-country working groups
SAWES One Year Anniversary Newsletter Expanding SAWES reach to Afghanistan, Myanmar and
Pakistan through the next exposure tour in Bangladesh
www.facebook/southasianwomensentrepreneurshipsymposium
B2B Portal – in development
SAWES Newsletter
Challenges of Regional Programming
Diverse country contexts within the five countries and intra country – India is both a middle income country and has high levels of poverty and other development challenges
Varying capacities of women entrepreneurs in the five countries
Ensuring that women from MSMEs are equally represented
Coordination – varying levels of commitment within TAF offices
Lack of inter-regional dialogue and sharing of good practices (i.e. ASEAN vs. SAARC)