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APEC: Women Prime Movers of Inclusive Growth

APEC: Women Prime Movers of Inclusive Growth
APEC: Women Prime Movers of Inclusive Growth

As women are both drivers and beneficiaries of inclusive economic growth, the APEC Women and the Economy 2015 forum has laid down a framework toward realizing the full potential of women as economic participants in the global economy.

In a statement adopted at the high level policy dialogue on women, the Policy Partnership on Women and the Economy, acknowledged the role of women in economic development. Delegates have met this week in Manila, Philippines, WAM reported.

“Our agenda is driven by the fact that women are prime movers of inclusive growth, and with this, we want to create an enabling environment for women’s economic empowerment, especially those in micro, small and medium enterprises. We want business to be inclusive and women entrepreneurs to be linked up to the international markets and global value chains,” said PPWE Chair, Emmeline L. Verzosa, the Executive Director of the Philippine Commission on Women.

Earlier this week, the group adopted a three-year strategic plan that sets a vision for strong, sustainable, and balanced economic growth in the APEC region. This is currently being done through initiatives that mainstream, elevate, and integrate gender responsive policies and programs into APEC activities.

Specifically, member economies will seek to strengthen the integration of gender responsive policies and programs across APEC fora and advance women’s economic participation through five priority pillars. These include access to capital and assets, access to markets, skills, capacity building, and health, leadership, voice and agency, and innovation and technology.

“Mainstreaming gender equality and women’s empowerment into the agenda is at the heart of this year’s inclusiveness theme,” said Verzosa. “This is the perfect time to take note of the successes we’ve had so far, as well as take stock of what still needs to be done so that we can fully realise economic development felt by more sectors of our societies.”

The group also recognized the APEC Women and the Economy Dashboard, a tool that provides a picture of the status of women’s participation in the regional economy through an indicator system, which was agreed upon by the 21 member economies.

Members, in the statement, urged APEC economies to “leverage the dashboard as a tool to inform policymaking and capacity building across all APEC work streams, and to improve and expand data collection.”

Financialtribune.com