THURSDAY 12, DECEMBER 2019 BY KUDAKWASHE MUZORIWA
Policy makers, governmental and non-governmental representatives and leading global advocates of economic empowerment of women will meet at the Women’s Economic Empowerment Global Summit (WEEGS) in Sharjah have advocated for the support of women-owned enterprises through the promotion of gender-responsive procurement and their integration into global value chains.
A value chain is the foundation of the framework of the full range of activities needed to create a product or service from ideation, through production, marketing and finally to distribution in the local and global markets.
WEEGS highlighted how government organisations can initiate more procurement from women-owned businesses. Participants in the previous edition of the summit stated that the percentage of women-led SMEs was around 32 per cent globally, while their share of procurement contracts does not exceed one per cent.
The World Bank said that global value chains account for almost 50 per cent of global trade and promoting equitable opportunities for men and women to participate in global value chains will lead to increased job creation and economic growth.
According to the World Bank, one per cent increase in the participation in value chains would increase per capita income by more than one per cent.
The WEEGS seeks to discuss the challenges to women empowerment and provide sustainable action plans to promote their role in social and economic development.
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