New from Womenable: Balance and business growth Womenable's President and CEO, Julie Weeks, is just back from presenting a paper at the ISBE conference in Belfast. Based on surveys conducted among growth-oriented women business owners, Weeks finds that even these women are concerned with finding greater balance in their lives, and that 'balance-seekers' are no less accomplished in their business growth performance. What do women really mean when they talk about 'balance'? Is 'balance' a connotation for 'control'? Click here to find out more. | |
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 "In a society where the rights
and potential of women are constrained, no man can be truly free. He may have power, but he will not have freedom."
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E3nabling News
It is our goal, in this quarterly newsletter, to provide a concise digest of news, information and links to 1: educate, 2: enlighten and 3: empower your work on behalf of nascent, new, established and growing women-owned enterprises around the world.
Our subscribers come from all walks of life - businesses large and small, NGOs and MLOs, associations, the public sector and educational institutions - yet all share a common interest in supporting women's enterprise development in their communities and around the world. We hope you find this information of interest. In this issue: - a toast to women's enterprise,
- nothing 'compact' about them, and
- measuring the status of women worldwide.
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A Toast to Women's Enterprise
Making note of our important anniversaries
 Just two weeks ago I was in the UK, joining with other 'womenablers' to discuss issues surrounding the launch of five women's business center pilots in the UK. As I made note of the fact that we were gathered practically on the very day of the 20th anniversary of the Women's Business Ownership Act (signed into law here in the US on October 25, 1988), which launched a similar 'demonstration project' of four women's business centers, some of my sister-in-arms remarked that there were other important anniversaries to take note of as well:
- Ten years ago in the UK, Baroness Margaret Jay, who had been recently named to head a reconstituted women's unit in the British government, held a now-famous "Women in the New Economy" meeting at no. 11 Downing Street to discuss the need for more targeted support for women's enterprise development in the UK. This lead to the publication, five years later, of A Strategic Framework for Women's Enterprise.
- Five years ago, on October 29, 2003, Canadian Prime Minister Jean Cretien debuted the findings of his Prime Minister's Task Force on Women Entrepreneurs, publishing a report containing policy and programmatic recommendations. Click on these links to download and read the report in English or French.
A reception celebrating the 20th anniversary of the US WBO Act was recently held in Washington, DC. For more information about what this important legislation contained and how it has impacted women's enterprise development, click on this link to read a brief synopsis of the WBO Act, and click here to read a more detailed report about the policy landmarks in women's enterprise in the US.
So, raise a glass of your favorite beverage and join Womenable in toasting these important anniversaries in women's enterprise development!
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Nothing 'Compact' About Them
The word 'compact' has multiple meanings: 'arranged into a small space', 'packed firmly together', or even 'a small ca se containing a mirror, powder puff and face powder.' But, alternatively, a compact is a multi-party agreement or covenant. There are several international compacts affecting human and economic rights, and therefore at least partially focused on improving conditions for women around the world, of which all womenablers should be aware. The three best known and most global in their impact are the United Nations' Millennium Development Goals, the related Global Compact, and CEDAW - the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women:
- MDG's: In international economic development circles, compacts and declarations are useful in focusing resources and creating goals by which to measure progress. In 2000, world leaders came together and agreed upon eight key areas to focus on in order to eliminate global poverty by 2015. Known as the Millennium Development Goals, this effort seeks to: 1) end hunger and extreme poverty; 2) provide universal access to education; 3) achieve gender equity; 4) improve the health of children; 5) improve maternal health; 6) combat HIV/AIDS; 7) ensure environmental sustainability; and 8) improve international cooperation for development.
- CSR: Corporate social responsibility also plays a role in the achievement of these lofty global goals. The UN's Global Compact, established in 2001, seeks to involve corporations and other business organizations in a public-private sector partnership to improve human rights, the environment, and other areas similar to the public sector-focused MDGs. This voluntary initiative has grown to involve over 4,700 stakeholders in more than 130 countries. And, to imbue a women's rights perspective into CSR, in 2004 the socially responsible Calvert fund introduced the Calvert Women's Principles, a 7-point corporate volunteer effort to improve the status of women worldwide.
- CEDAW, Beijing and Beijing + 5: CEDAW, held in 1979, resulted in what has become known as a Bill of Rights for women. Click on the link above to read the declaration. Nearly 20 years later, in 1995, the UN held its Fourth World Conference on Women, now known as the Beijing Conference, followed five years later by Beijing + 5, held in New York City. The declarations that came from these events are all worth taking note of and 'bookmarking', as they focus specifically on improving the quality of life for women globally, including economic empowerment.
- Other Key Women-focused Compacts and Declarations: For a listing of other international agreements focused on women's rights, visit this web link. And for a look back in history, reading the Seneca Falls Declaration of Sentiments from the famous 1848 women's rights convention may be of interest, as may the Declaration of the Rights of Woman from France in 1791. Its author was found guilty of treason and was executed by guillotine.
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Measuring the Status of Women Worldwide
 So how are these global compacts and declarations doing in improving the lives of women worldwide, and in increasing the economic empowerment of women? Well, while basic health and education has improved over the past several decades, it is still a tale of two cities: according to the World Bank, 18% of the world's population (just under 1 billion people) exist on less than $1USD per day and nearly half live on less than $2.50 USD/day. In addition, the UN estimates that 70% of the world's poor are women.
Economic empowerment in general and self-employment and entrepreneurship among women in particular remain under-measured and - as we womenablers know - it is only what is measured that can then be managed. Here, then, are some efforts that are measuring the status of women internationally, and that include a focus on economic activity, if not always entrepreneurship:
- The World Economic Forum has just released its third annual Global Gender Gap report. Scandinavian countries continue to lead the way in the rankings, with greater gender parity in economic participation, educational attainment, political empowerment, and health - the four major areas of measurement. Overall, the 130 countries included in the study made progress on the first three of those indicators, but lost a bit of ground in the area of health parity. Visit the World Economic Forum's Gender Community web site to read more and to download the 2008 report.
- Perhaps the most comprehensive (but also in some ways the hardest to decipher or draw conclusions from) source of statistical information on the status of women worldwide is the UN's publications on "The World's Women." There have been two such detailed reports published, in 2000 and in 2005, with the older one somewhat easier to analyze vis-a-vis women's economic engagement.
- And, of course, we would be remiss in not mentioning that the easiest way to keep track of the key sources of knowledge and insight on women's entrepreneurship worldwide is to bookmark Womenable's Reference Library page and refer to it regularly. We're always adding new information and links to must-have publications from around the world.
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We encourage your feedback and comments, as well as your help in spreading our "womenabling" news. Feel free to click below to forward this e-mail to others you feel would be interested in any or all of the articles above. And let us know if there are any aspects of women's enterprise development that you feel we should investigate and share more broadly.
Sincerely,
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