The ICR Facility is supporting its partners to increase women’s economic empowerment. But it is not always easy to get interest in this topic. It is often still seen as a lower priority for a country’s economic development and it is complex to tackle. Our new ICReport How to make the Business Environment work for Women’s Economic Empowerment explains how the ICR Facility is making technical assistance as gender transformative as possible throughout the project implementation cycle. It also provides concrete examples how the recommendations made can be implemented in practice and provides tools from the ICR Facility. Where to start and how to make a change through short term technical assistance?
In a world striving for economic progress, women play a key role. But how do we integrate women’s economic empowerment effectively into Business Environment Reform projects? Our latest report How to make the Business Environment work for Women’s Economic Empowerment? outlines 5 essential steps:
Step 1: Before the project
The first step is even before the project has started – setting the scene in early discussions, making the point that Womens’ Economic Empowerment isn’t only about social justice, it’s also good for business and strategic.
Great starting points to get a general overview and compare the situation to other countries in the region and beyond are:
- The World Bank’s Women Business and the Law
- The International Labour Organisation’s ILOSTAT
- World Economic Forum’s Gender Gap Report
Step 2: Project design
When you start designing the intervention, make sure you identify the right issues. These can be complex, because some of the challenges faced by women are systematically related to being women, but they are also compounded by a whole raft of other characteristics – race, religion, class, nationality, culture etc. It can be very difficult to untangle these issues and it is recommended to bring in a specialised gender expert to do a gender assessment. The ICR Facility also offers training and tools to identify those issues. For example, the “Gender-Sensitive Business Environment Reform Diagnostic” from our Toolbox, which was used in Tuvalu to analyse the investment climate.
Make sure the theory of change is clearly formulated and accepted by all stakeholders. WEE should be at the heart of that theory of change. The project should be designed in phases – only if WEE aspects are properly identified and delivered, a project can go to the next phase. This will make sure WEE doesn’t get “parked”. Identify allies and build coalitions, to increase the sustainability of the project. Also be sure to have a clear understanding of what you are trying to achieve, assess the likelihood to achieve it through the available means and what type of factors or actors can become obstacles or facilitators to achieve it. Make sure to keep the ambition at the right place.
Step 3: Project implementation
- Ensure active, relevant and representative participation throughout the project implementation
- Avoid manels & wanels (panels dominated by men or women). When implementing interventions, consultants often start by interviewing decision-makers and most influential stakeholders. These are often mostly male however. Try to invite just as many women and do it systematically. A balanced representation absolutely has to be built into the M&E plan and checked throughout the project delivery. When interviewing the final beneficiaries, often mainly women will be contacted, but you also want to avoid excluding men. WEE is an issue that concerns society at large, not just women. If we only listen to women, we reinforce the image that this a “woman-issue”. Therefore, think about the hour and location when you invite participants, so it also suits women. Also consider the format to collect information.
- Step out of your own mindset. In addition to gender representation, it is important to include voices from both the sceptical and the supportive side. We know these tend to have very different world views and it is essential to understand how they would react to proposed changes, so we can anticipate and mitigate risks.
When the Uganda Association of Women Lawyers (FIDA-U) organised a Dialogue to discuss women’s property rights within cohabiting relationships, they invited both sides. On the one hand, there were religious, traditional and cultural leaders, representing traditional views. On the other hand were the women, coming from both urban and rural communities, who explained what constraints the current legal framework actually cause for them in their daily lives. Though strong opinions were voiced, the dialogue took place in a respectful manner and both parties listened to each other. “This Dialogue really opened my eyes. Now I understand the issue and women’s perspective better.” Traditional leader from the Buganda Kingdom, Uganda.
- Start off on the same page. The ICR Facility’s Business Environment Reform for Women’s Economic Empowerment training offers a great start to bring stakeholders together and create common understanding and buy in for the project. This was done in Nigeria, for the project with the Ekiti Development and Investment Promotion Agency. Lolade Olutola, Director-General of EKDIPA confirmed:
“The workshops on “Data Collection and Analysis for Policy Advocacy” and “Women’s Economic Empowerment for Investment Promotion” (…) proved to be particularly beneficial. These training sessions not only equipped EKDIPA staff and stakeholder agencies with the necessary skills and knowledge but also fostered a collaborative environment for brainstorming solutions and action steps. We are confident that the insights and recommendations gained through these interventions from the ICR Facility will enable EKDIPA to develop targeted investment promotion strategies that showcase the unique opportunities available in Ekiti State and also enhance our capacity to attract and retain investments across various sectors.”
This training is also available online and can be taken by yourself. More information here
Step 4: Post Implementation
We organise peer to peer exchanges to enable other partners to benefit from the lessons learnt and build networks for change. In Kigali we hosted a conference for 140 participants, from all over the African, Caribbean and Pacific regions to discuss best practices and reforms to empower women as entrepreneurs, employees and leaders in public private dialogues.
Here is the Conference Report and recordings of the sessions.
Step 5: Monitoring and evaluation
Monitoring and evaluation is the golden thread to make sure the project remains gender-transformative. Women’s presence should be built in at every step, from information gathering to information validation. Find practical tips in the ICReport Making the Business Environment Work for Women’s Economic Empowerment and the ICR Knowledge Hub at https://www.icr-facility.eu/knowledge-hub/
This publication is part of an intervention supported by the Investment Climate Reform (ICR) Facility. The ICR Facility is co-funded by the European Union (EU), the Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS) under the 11th European Development Fund (EDF), the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and the British Council. The ICR Facility is implemented by GIZ, the British Council, Expertise France, and SNV. The contents of this publication are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the donors or the implementing partners
