Catalyzing Women’s Entrepreneurship - Creating a Gender-Responsive Entrepreneurial Ecosystem

The project aims to advance women’s economic empowerment and contribute to poverty reduction in the Asia-Pacific region. It is designed to address the challenges that women-owned micro small and medium-sized enterprises face in growing their businesses including access to finance and new technologies. It is designed to increase women’s access to capital through innovative financing mechanisms and women entrepreneurs’ use of business development services and financial technologies. Project activities include: (1) technical assistance to support innovative financing mechanisms to develop targeted products for women entrepreneurs including bonds impact investment funds and financial technology platforms; (2) advisory support and capacity building for policymakers on regulatory frameworks for digital finance; (3) training for women entrepreneurs on using information and communications technologies to plan manage and grow their businesses; and (4) training for policymakers on developing implementing and monitoring gender-responsive entrepreneurship initiatives and developing policy frameworks for innovative finance mechanisms.

The expected outcomes for this project include: (1) increased access to finance for women entrepreneurs through innovative financing approaches; (2) increased use of information and communication technologies by women entrepreneurs; and (3) strengthened enabling environment for the advancement of women entrepreneurs.