Rethinking gender-responsive procurement: Enabling an ecosystem for women’s economic empowerment

Date: Friday, July 30, 2021

This publication discusses ways to broaden the scope of gender-responsive procurement from a focus on only promoting women’s enterprises to also including gender-responsive enterprises. The publication aims to inspire a transformative conceptualization of gender-responsive procurement that supports both equal market opportunities for women’s enterprises and equal outcomes for women in the labour market and the business environment.

Women’s economic empowerment in the Indian Ocean Rim: Progress and challenges

Date: Wednesday, December 16, 2020

This report explores some key indicators of women’s economic empowerment in labour markets and women’s political participation and economic leadership in the Indian Ocean Rim region through three dimensions: resources, agency, and achievements. It highlights good practices, case studies, and challenges and opportunities for investments and initiatives, and provides key recommendations for Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) Member States and other stakeholders to realize women’s economic empowerment in the region.

Innovation for gender equality

Date: Friday, March 8, 2019

This brochure showcases some of UN Women’s thoughts and practices around innovation that could accelerate gender equality and women’s empowerment. The examples range from pilot programmes with marginalized beneficiaries to partnerships with start-ups; from frontier technologies to non-tech interventions that challenge mindsets; and from procedural improvements to capacity-building.

Towards inclusive cities for all: How to protect the rights of women in informal self-employment

Date: Friday, June 29, 2018

This policy brief synthesizes research findings, analysis, and policy recommendations on the gender dimensions of informal employment in cities. It focuses on three groups of informally self-employed women working in urban areas—street vendors, home-based workers, and waste pickers—to show how organizations of informal workers engaging with local and national policymakers are working to advance these workers’ rights and help to create more inclusive cities for all.

The power of procurement: How to source from women-owned businesses

Date: Monday, March 13, 2017

With women-owned businesses securing less than one per cent of corporate purchasing expenditures, this timely guide sets out to highlight the challenges and barriers that exist today for women-owned businesses. The guide provides sensible, actionable steps that corporations can take with their strategic sourcing decisions and will help corporate purchasing executives evaluate the diversity of their supplier base in considering the potential of women-owned businesses.

Resolution: Migrants in business – fair of entrepreneurial proposals

Date: Friday, December 18, 2015

This paper provides a short overview of the first meeting of returned Moldovan migrants and public authorities, held on International Migrant Day, 18 December 2015. The event facilitated an open dialogue between migrant women, family members of returned migrants and donors. Furthermore, all participants agreed upon six recommendations on migrants’ key reintegration issues through entrepreneurship opportunities, which will be forwarded to relevant government officials.