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)