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Background

Access to good quality and affordable childcare is a win-win-win for all: parents and their children, employers, and economies. Join the SEEP Women’s Economic Empowerment Working Group for this webinar on why childcare matters and what can we do about it to promote women’s economic empowerment. IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, will present the key findings of its latest report Tackling Childcare: The Business Case for Employer-Supported Childcare, as illustrated by 10 company case studies, including highlights from Jordan, Sri Lanka, and India. The report also includes decision-making tools for companies and country highlights on policies impacting employer-supported childcare. Safaricom, a Kenyan telecommunications company and one of the 10 companies featured in IFC’s Tackling Childcare report, will discuss why and how childcare is a smart business decision aligned to their purpose, and an important building block for creating an enabling and empowering employee environment, as well as greater gender diversity and the retention and advancement of women at Safaricom. Kidogo, a Social Enterprise in Kenya, will discuss how their social-franchising model improves access to Early Childhood Development services at the bottom of the pyramid while also empowering young women (or “Mamapreneurs") to run childcare micro-businesses.

Please follow the discussion online: #TacklingChildcare @TheSEEPNetwork @WBG_Gender @SafaricomLtd @Kidogo_ECD @Nathan_Inc

This webinar is hosted by the SEEP Women's Economic Empowerment Working Group.

Speakers

Afzal Habib, Co-Founder & Chief Imagination Officer, Kidogo

Afzal Habib is a serial social entrepreneur who co-founded Kidogo in 2014 and currently leads the Workplace & Innovations business lines. Prior to co-founding Kidogo, he was a Management Consultant at the Boston Consulting Group where he advised Fortune 500 clients across sectors on growth, innovation, and organizational structuring. Afzal has experience working in 8 countries around the world including with CARE International and The Acumen Fund building & evaluating social enterprise & impact investments. He has been recognized by Forbes Magazine and Corporate Knights Magazine as a Top 30 Under 30, and is also an Echoing Green Fellow.

Sanda Ojiambo, Head of Corporate Responsibility, Safaricom

Sanda Ojiambo spent the first 11 years of her career working in the NGO sector and the United Nations, starting off in CARE International in Somalia and moving to UNDP Somalia, leading programmes in diverse areas such as Safe Motherhood, Education, Environmental Conservation, Governance and Demining Landmines. After a 5 year highly insightful sojourn in Somalia, Sanda moved on to IPPF Africa Regional Office, a pan African NGO that focused on women’s health and rights. She provided technical advisory for service delivery, governance and advocacy and enjoyed the challenges of working in and through 40 countries across Africa over a further five years. In 2008, Sanda joined Safaricom Limited with a clear desire to drive corporate contribution to the development and sustainability agenda, through technology, innovation and partnerships. Sanda leads the Corporate Responsibility Department that coordinates the integration of the SDGs, Sustainability Reporting, Technology for Development Products and the Safaricom and MPESA Foundations. She holds with a Master’s Degree in Public Policy and Economics.

Rudaba Nasir, Women's Employment Specialist, IFC, World Bank Group

Rudaba Zehra Nasir is a Women’s Employment Specialist in IFC’s Gender Secretariat. Rudaba helps IFC clients and partners close gender gaps in recruitment, retention, and promotion and realize better business outcomes. These client engagements include business case research, advisory services, and partnerships, such as the World Bank Group’s SheWorks partnership, which advanced job opportunities for more than 300,000 women. Rudaba currently leads IFC’s Tackling Childcare initiative focused on operationalizing IFC’s research on Tackling Childcare: The Business Case for Employer-Supported Childcare, which Rudaba helped produce. For over a decade, Rudaba has worked in various countries and sectors to enhance economic opportunities for women. She previously worked with the UN and USAID on gender assessments and project design, implementation, and evaluation across Africa, Latin America, and South Asia to support women’s employment and entrepreneurship. Prior to that, Rudaba managed client relationships as part of one of Pakistan’s largest corporate banking groups. Rudaba holds an M.A. in International Development from Ohio University and a BSc. Honors in Economics from Lahore University of Management Sciences. Follow Tweets @WBG_Gender and @RudabaNasir.

Moderator

Lis Meyers, Managing Associate, Gender and Social Inclusion, Nathan Associates

Lis Meyers facilitates the SEEP Women’s Economic Empowerment Working Group and served as the chair of the Technical Advisory Committee for the 2017 Women’s Economic Empowerment Global Learning Forum in Bangkok, Thailand. Ms. Meyers is a Managing Associate at Nathan Associates, where she leads efforts on gender and women’s economic empowerment across Nathan’s portfolio of international projects. She is currently undertaking research for USAID on legal and regulatory barriers that affect women’s employment, which includes an examination of childcare policies and regulations. With over a decade of expertise in gender integration across sectors, Ms. Meyers has led research on child, early, and forced marriage, women’s role in cross border trade, the potential of impact sourcing to generate employment opportunities for vulnerable populations, and addressing social norms in women’s financial inclusion. She is also an experienced trainer, and has facilitated Gender 101 and gender integration trainings, as well as Persuasive Communication workshops for women entrepreneurs and women in the workplace. She has a BA from Brown University and an MSc with Distinction from The London School of Economics. Follow Tweets @LisMeyers and @Nathan_Inc