OECD Accelerating Women’s Entrepreneurship Forum

In June, 2004 the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in partnership with Project Tsunami, Kagider (Women Entrepreneurs Association of Turkey) and KOSGEB convened the 3rd OECD conference on women entrepreneurs. This conference followed on two previous conferences in 1997 and 2000 held in Paris and in conjunction with the 2nd OECD Conference of Ministers Responsible for Small and Medium Enterprises as well as an OECD Business Symposium and Global Marketplace. The first two conferences resulted in policy recommendations to OECD member and non-member Ministers with respect to women entrepreneurs. The purpose of the third conference on women was to examine world wide best practices and to move the agenda for women entrepreneurs ahead. The second Ministerial meeting was open to all member as well as invited non member OECD countries with a total of 70 being represented.

More than 150 women entrepreneurs, academics, policy makers, representatives of corporate sponsors, multi-lateral organizations and donor agencies and representatives of NGO’s gathered together to share best practices, strategies, participate in expert roundtables, mentoring and training on key issues concerning women’s entrepreneurship. Over two and a half days more than 80 speakers made presentations on such workshops and panels as:

  • Research, data and statistics
  • Finance
  • Best practices
  • International markets and networks
  • Entrepreneurial training
  • Access to corporate markets
For many participants, especially the women from Turkey, they have never participated in such a dialogue before and the opportunity to learn from each other was exciting and rewarding.

This meeting and the corresponding SME Ministerial meeting were historic and groundbreaking. For the first time, a large number of member and non member Ministers and delegations were brought together in conjunction with a business forum and women’s conference. For the first time, ‘Fostering Women’s Entrepreneurship’ was actually integrated into the Ministerial and Business Forum programs. The OCED recognized that:

‘women’s entrepreneurship is potentially an important source of growth…but this source is largely untapped. The empirical basis for informed policy design needs to be improved…and obstacles that need to be addressed can be identified. Progress can be made by removing obstacles to female participation in the labor force,…incorporating a women’s dimension in SME programs at the design stage…and ensuring that women entrepreneurs themselves are heard.’

This was supported by key policy recommendations such as to:

  • Increase the ability of women to participate in the labor force by ensuring the availability of affordable child care and equal treatment in the workplace;
  • Listen to the voice of women entrepreneurs;
  • Incorporate a women’s entrepreneurial dimension in the formulation of all SME-related policies;
  • Promote the development of women entrepreneur networks;
  • Periodically evaluate the impact of any SME-related policies on the success of women-owned businesses and the extend to which such businesses take advantage of them; and,
  • Improve the factual and analytical underpinnings or our understanding of the role of women entrepreneurs in the economy.

Heartfelt congratulations to all the organizers including Virginia Littlejohn of Project Tsunami and Marie-Florence Estimée of the OECD for their vision and leadership in putting women entrepreneurs on the agenda and ensuring that their significance continues to remain a priority. While much work remains to be done, with the support of individual policy makers and visionaries the impact and importance of women in the economy continues to receive the attention it deserves.

Andrina Lever is President of Lever Enterprises providing a range of consulting services to companies wishing to expand internationally. Lever Enterprises is based in Canada with network alliances around the world. Ms. Lever is a TIAW Alliance Associate member and winner of the 2003 TIAW World of Difference Award.

The International Alliance for Women (TIAW)