Today, women's economic empowerment (WEE) often remains at the peripheries of both the mainstream economic growth and gender equality agendas; funding for WEE remains insufficient and fragmented; and WEE programs and policies do not always reach poor or marginalized women and girls, nor are they always grounded in the latest data, research, and evidence. Additionally, advocates are often focused on specific levers of economic empowerment—such as ending child marriage, strengthening land rights, or promoting microenterprise—rather than on a larger, overarching agenda that articulates all of the necessary elements of empowerment, inclusive of a sufficient enabling environment that promotes women’s rights.

However, women’s economic empowerment as an issue area has captured the attention of policy-makers at the global (UN High Level Panel on Women’s Economic Empowerment, World Bank’s Women Entrepreneurs Finance Initiative) and national levels, so efforts are emerging to organize advocates, thought leaders and allies around this often-undefined theme. With many of those individuals present at Women Deliver, we have an opportunity to bring together a wide range of stakeholders to discuss emerging efforts at coalition-building, new research and insights as to what works, and recent advocacy wins with regards to WEE, with participants in this session analyzing gaps and constraints, networking to broaden coalitions and brainstorm collective solutions.

Co-led by ICRW and BMGF
Community-Led, Semi-Structured Networking Sessions
Thursday, June 6, 2019 | 10:30am-12:00pm, 114-115 West Building