Gender Tool Kit: Micro, Small, and Medium-Sized Enterprise Finance and Development

Gender Tool Kit: Micro, Small, and Medium-Sized Enterprise Finance and Development

Author: Asian Development Bank

Publisher: Asian Development Bank

Published: 2014-03-01

Total Pages: 142

ISBN-13: 9292544373

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

This tool kit is to help staff and consultants of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) conceptualize and design gender-responsive public policy and projects in the micro, small, and medium-sized enterprise sector. It guides users in the design of project and program outputs, activities, inputs, indicators, and targets to respond to gender issues in micro, small, and medium-sized enterprise development and finance operations. ADB staff can use the tool kit to identify social and gender issues to be documented in the initial poverty and social analysis during the concept phase. Consultants can use it to carry out more detailed social and gender analysis during the project preparatory technical assistance or detailed design or due diligence phase. It should be noted that the tool kit is not meant to be prescriptive. Rather, it offers a menu of entry points that the project team can choose from.


Gender Equality Results Case Study

Gender Equality Results Case Study

Author: Asian Development Bank

Publisher: Asian Development Bank

Published: 2015-06-01

Total Pages: 51

ISBN-13: 9292549707

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Women owners of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) have a great potential to contribute to economic growth and poverty reduction through employment creation and income generation. In Bangladesh, women-owned SMEs have different characteristics when compared with men-owned SMEs and tend to face specific challenges and obstacles. To capitalize on this potential, these challenges and constraints have to be addressed in initiatives that aim to support SME growth. The Small and Medium-Sized Enterprise Development Project supported the development and expansion of SMEs in Bangladesh from 2009 to 2013. In specific pilot districts, the number of women-owned SMEs increased by over 10%. The training of women SME owners in business development, accounting, loan application rules and processes, and in the regulations governing businesses facilitated their improved access to institutional finance. The formation of advocacy groups and membership in different associations enhanced the confidence of women SME owners and their ability to lobby for policy changes. Dialogue and relation building between participating financial institutions and women's SME associations helped foster mutual understanding and cooperation, leading to better outcomes for women-owned SMEs. Participating financial institution policies and products require further adaptation to meet the needs and circumstances of women-owned SMEs.


Developing gender-sensitive value chains

Developing gender-sensitive value chains

Author: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

Publisher: Food & Agriculture Org.

Published: 2018-07-30

Total Pages: 114

ISBN-13: 9251305161

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

These guidelines aim to respond to these questions and support practitioners in translating the Gender-Sensitive Value Chain Framework, developed by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) into action (FAO, 2016a). Building on FAO’s comparative advantage on gender in agriculture and food security, these guidelines are primarily intended to assist practitioners in designing and implementing interventions that provide women and men with equal opportunities to benefit from agrifood value chain development. They offer practical tools and examples of successful approaches to foster a more systematic integration of gender equality dimensions in value chain interventions in the agricultural sector and enhance the social impact of these interventions.


Provincial Facilitation for Investment and Trade Index

Provincial Facilitation for Investment and Trade Index

Author: Asian Development Bank

Publisher: Asian Development Bank

Published: 2022-03-01

Total Pages: 132

ISBN-13: 9292694383

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

This report presents the findings of the second Provincial Facilitation for Investment and Trade (ProFIT) survey in the Lao People’s Democratic Republic (Lao PDR). It provides a comparative picture of the experiences and perceptions of the business community in complying with government regulations by gender. The report shares analysis in six key areas: (i) ease of starting a business, (ii) transparency and access to information, (iii) regulatory burden, (iv) informal charges, (v) consistency in policy implementation, and (vi) business friendliness of the provincial administration. It notes that women entrepreneurs reported that their business registration takes longer and costs more. The report urges the government to train staff to overcome hidden gender biases and make it easier for women to create and run businesses.


Informal Services in Asian Cities

Informal Services in Asian Cities

Author: Asian Development Bank

Publisher: Asian Development Bank

Published: 2022-08-01

Total Pages: 343

ISBN-13: 929269717X

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

While supporting the livelihoods of most of the developing world’s urban poor, the informal sector also deprives them of basic services and social protection. Rendered vulnerable to socioeconomic threats, people in the urban informal sector have suffered disproportionately during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic and face a highly uncertain future. Informal Services in Asian Cities explores informality’s forms and constraints. It describes the pandemic’s effects on the informal sector and how leveraging informal services can enable urban resilience. Drawing on interdisciplinary research, the book illustrates the transformative potential of urban planning and governance that addresses informality. It also details measures that could boost the informal sector’s inclusive and sustainable growth potential.


CAREC Gender Strategy 2030

CAREC Gender Strategy 2030

Author: Asian Development Bank

Publisher: Asian Development Bank

Published: 2021-01-01

Total Pages: 117

ISBN-13: 929262704X

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation (CAREC) countries face several common challenges in improving the quality of lives of women, and the coronavirus disease pandemic has exacerbated existing inequalities. The CAREC Gender Strategy 2030 complements national plans for gender mainstreaming. It provides a regional approach for pursuing gender equality, women’s empowerment, harnessed potential, and strengthened capacity for equal access of women and men to economic opportunities from CAREC investments. Under the overall CAREC 2030 strategy and aligned sector strategies, the gender strategy provides strategic directions and key entry points that will serve as a roadmap to mainstream gender in the CAREC operational clusters.


Georgia Country Gender Assessment

Georgia Country Gender Assessment

Author: Alyson Brody

Publisher: Asian Development Bank

Published: 2018-12-01

Total Pages: 185

ISBN-13: 9292614738

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

This publication provides a gender analysis of socioeconomic areas and issues in Georgia and relevant operations of the Asian Development Bank. Georgia has advanced its gender equality agenda but progress is still needed to achieve some key gender equality outcomes. Georgia continues to fare poorly on key global indicators of economic status and political voice. Violence against women also remains a pervasive issue in the country, affecting one in seven women. Some gender-responsive practices were identified, but significant gaps and missed opportunities for women's empowerment and inclusion were also identified. Recommendations include the need for capacity-building on gender mainstreaming, increased human and financial resources, and an improved evidence base.


How Inclusive is Inclusive Business for Women?

How Inclusive is Inclusive Business for Women?

Author: Asian Development Bank

Publisher: Asian Development Bank

Published: 2016-05-01

Total Pages: 70

ISBN-13: 929257390X

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Inclusive businesses are commercially viable business models that provide in-scale innovative and systemic solutions to problems relevant to the lives of low-income people. Inclusive business companies often involve women in their value chain and provide specific services that help low-income women. This report assesses the extent to which inclusive business models promote women's economic empowerment. Examples come from the inclusive business portfolios of Asian Development Bank, Inter-American Development Bank and International Finance Corporation. The report finds that inclusive businesses are indeed bringing positive change to women’s lives and that addressing gender-based constraints also yields business benefits. However, a company’s financial return and its social impact can be maximized only if companies understand and address systemic issues of gender inequality.


Gender Tool Kit: Energy

Gender Tool Kit: Energy

Author: Asian Development Bank

Publisher: Asian Development Bank

Published: 2012-09-01

Total Pages: 133

ISBN-13: 9290927518

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

This tool kit assists staff and consultants of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) in conceptualizing and designing gender-responsive projects in the energy sector. It guides users in key questions to be asked and data to be collected during project preparation. It also offers a menu of entry points in designing project outputs, activities, inputs, indicators, and targets that integrate key gender issues identified during the gender analysis. The tool kit is broken down into key subsectors of ADB's energy sector investments---transmission and distribution, rural electrification, energy efficiency, and renewable energy. Case studies from ADB energy projects have been included to illustrate good practices in mainstreaming gender in energy sector.


Asian Development Outlook 2015 Update

Asian Development Outlook 2015 Update

Author: Asian Development Bank

Publisher: Asian Development Bank

Published: 2015-09-01

Total Pages: 401

ISBN-13: 9292571206

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Developing Asia faces considerable headwinds from slow recovery in the major industrial economies and moderating prospects for the large economies of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and India. Subdued demand from the industrial economies and the PRC has delayed the expected pickup in growth in other parts of Asia, including Southeast Asia’s larger economies. The region must strengthen its resilience under external shocks. Macroprudential policy can engender enough independence in monetary policy to counter destabilizing capital flows, while a well-developed domestic financial system can alleviate dependence on external borrowing and thereby reduce risk from currency depreciation. The region must mobilize untapped resources to give growth a much needed boost. This Asian Development Outlook Update 2015 highlights how realizing women’s equal rights and contributions to economic and political life can yield ample benefits. While the region has made considerable progress over the past several decades in closing gender gaps in health and education, much remains to be done to erase them in the labor market. This will both marshal more human resources to boost economic growth and do the right thing for women as individuals.