The Women’s Entrepreneurship Accelerator (WEA) brought together high-level representatives from its founding partners on March 18 to debate the critical role of women’s entrepreneurship in leading adaptation, remediation, and response to climate change. Its focus is on how women entrepreneurs can become trendsetters and contribute to developing more sustainable and inclusive societies for all.
Women entrepreneurs have historically faced several challenges, including a lack of finance, fewer entrepreneurial contacts than men, and restrictions that prevent women from working. Furthermore, discriminatory laws increase these obstacles. According to a World Bank report from 2022, approximately 2.4 billion working-age women still do not have the same economic rights as males.
In the study’s 190 economies, 178 still have legal barriers that prevent women from participating fully in the economy; 86 continue to face some form of employment constraints, and 95 do not end up receiving equal pay for equal work. Laws in 76 countries limit women’s land ownership, which is a key resource for reducing poverty.
Six UN agencies teamed up for the 2019 UN General Assembly to establish the Women’s Entrepreneurship Accelerator Program, which aims to build a conducive ecosystem for women entrepreneurs while maximizing their permanent Continue to develop influence. WEA started the initiative after recognizing the interplay between climate change and gender inequality.
It is a multi-stakeholder collaboration program aimed at empowering 5 million women entrepreneurs by 2030. It earned support from the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), UNDP, UNGC, UN Women, and Mary Kay. The initiative’s ultimate purpose is to establish an environment that allows women entrepreneurs all over the world to maximize their effect on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
In unleashing the potential of women entrepreneurs, the accelerator program illustrates the transformative power of innovative, multi-party relationships. The event at the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women emphasized the significance of women’s entrepreneurship as a major driver of climate change and the need to eliminate structural and cultural obstacles to women’s access to economic opportunities, as well as how to assist women entrepreneurs in developing solutions to prosper and invest in innovative ideas.
Furthermore, the program also addressed how to enhance economic opportunity for women through supporting gender-responsive sourcing, as well as a call for more people to join the Women’s Entrepreneurship Accelerator Program to help women all over the world.