PURSUING WOMEN’S ECONOMIC EMPOWERMENT
International Monetary Fund, May 2018
The International Monetary Fund assessed the financial inclusion of women in various countries and findings suggest that “enhanced financial inclusion would increase female labor force participation and entrepreneurship, support small and medium size enterprises, and improve competitiveness and boost potential growth…Despite progress, women and men do not have the same opportunities to participate in economic activity to promote better development outcomes.” SBS’ train-the-trainer approach increases potential exponentially.
WOMEN AT WORK
International Labour Organization, 2016
“In addition to systemic barriers common to all entrepreneurs (such as access to inputs), women entrepreneurs usually face additional barriers, including discriminatory legal systems, namely inheritance laws, property law and customary laws, and social attitudes and norms that prevent them from starting new businesses or consolidating or expanding existing ones, and moving outside the informal economy. As a result, the potential of women entrepreneurs is highly underdeveloped. The ILO estimates that 50 per cent of women’s productive potential is underused, compared to 22 per cent of men’s (ILO, 2014e).” The SBS model fosters confidence in entrepreneurs.
THE POWER OF PARITY: HOW ADVANCING WOMEN’S EQUALITY CAN ADD $12 TRILLION TO GLOBAL GROWTH
McKinsey Global Institute, 2015
“Besides direct effects, increased participation among women in the work force has second-order impacts on GDP, including increased consumption and savings due to higher incomes, intergenerational impact from improved health and education among children, and potentially higher productivity due to greater female entrepreneurship. Studies have analyzed the impact of bridging the full labor-force participation gap between men and women and have found it could boost GDP by anywhere from 5 to 20 percent for most countries.” The SBS model improves economies.