Empowering women entrepreneurs, at home and abroad

Jan O’Sullivan TD, Ireland’s Minister of State for Trade and Development sees gender equality as fundamental to Ireland’s overseas development programme.

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We believe that gender equality is a human right. We also believe that equitable societies can build stronger and more sustainable economies, which are better positioned to engage in international trade.

Increased trade, regionally and globally, is central to sustained economic growth for the world’s Least Developed Countries. But it cannot be gender-blind. The ability of a country to benefit from more liberalized trade depends on the strength and productivity of its domestic economy, which must include women’s economic empowerment. Supporting economic activity focused on poverty reduction by empowering entrepreneurs in Africa – men and women – is therefore an essential part of my work as Ireland’s Minister for Trade and Development.

Empowering women entrepreneurs

A number of important factors often limit the capacity of women in developing countries from taking advantage of economic opportunities, including those generated through increased trade. Limited access to and control of productive assets, such as land and credit, is a key constraint for many women trying to establish or develop their own businesses. If a woman doesn’t own her own land, it is difficult for her to secure credit.

Women’s engagement in the economy in the developing world is often confined to the informal economy. On the margins of the economy, women are significantly over-represented in the more vulnerable areas of employment, such as unpaid family work, casual agricultural labour and as domestic servants. The burden  of unpaid care work in the home is another limiting factor which can affect women’s capacity to engage in commercial activity outside the home.

However, it is also important to reflect on broader issues of rights and empowerment. For example, educating girls is undoubtedly one of the most powerful tools for women’s empowerment. Education provides women with the knowledge, skills and self-confidence they need to seek out economic opportunities. Women’s role in decision-making is also a critical issue. This goes right from women’s voices at community and local level, to increased representation in business and farmers associations, to increasing the numbers of women in parliament. Access to quality maternal and reproductive health, enabling women to control their fertility, is yet another key facet of empowerment.

The Irish experience

Looking back at our own experience, Ireland has some lessons to share on gender equality and women’s economic empowerment.

Much has changed for women in Ireland over the last 50 years. The women’s rights movement became increasingly active during the 1960s when women began to demand greater equality. Free secondary education opened up vast new opportunities. From the 1970s onwards, large numbers of women began to attend universities and other third-level institutions. The workplace began to change. Women no longer had to give up their jobs in the civil service when they got married. Legislative reform was introduced on equal pay, employment and social welfare. In 1985, after a long campaign by the women’s movement, the Health (Family Planning) (Amendment) Act was passed, legalizing the sale of contraceptives to anyone over 18.

Yet, despite nearly half a century of change and despite significant increases in the number of women in the workforce, Ireland, in common with many other developed countries, still has too few female entrepreneurs. Only 15-18% of established entrepreneurs in Ireland are women. Women are much more inclined to start business in the consumer sectors, with much smaller numbers entering the business services and manufacturing sectors. Surveys demonstrate significantly different attitudes amongst men and women to becoming entrepreneurs and growing their businesses. More men than women are confident that they have the necessary skills and knowledge to start a business – 57% of men compared to 42% of women – and this despite the fact that women early-stage entrepreneurs have higher education levels than men. Fear of failure amongst early stage entrepreneurs is higher amongst women than men – 43% versus 34%.

Female entrepreneurs

So, what are the key challenges for female entrepreneurs in Ireland, and why are more of these entrepreneurs not engaged in export markets?

Clearly the choice of sector is one issue, but there also continue to be important cultural and gender issues limiting women’s opportunities. The three most common causes of failure of female-owned businesses are cited as lack of proper financing, lack of proper experience, and lack of training. These factors also contribute to the failure of male-owned business. But if we dig a little deeper, there are other more entrenched gender issues which have an impact. Studies have shown that women are less likely to perceive themselves as entrepreneurs, and avoid training and courses targeted at ‘entrepreneurs’. The impact of family life and child care, as well as a lack of high profile role models are other limiting factors.

Supporting women as entrepreneurs is a key objective of Ireland’s National Women’s Strategy (2007-2016). A programme of positive action on female entrepreneurship fosters networking and training opportunities. One initiative targets women entrepreneurs who have the capacity to grow their businesses. Forty such women are selected each year to take part in a programme of mentoring provided on a pro-bono basis by some of Ireland’s most successful women entrepreneurs.

The strategy also commits to improving access to child care as well as providing more flexible working arrangements and increased parental leave. In 2010, the Government introduced the Early Childhood Care and Education Programme which provides improved access to free pre-school education for children between three and five years of age.

Irish aid

Many of these experiences and lessons learned are reflected in Ireland’s overseas aid programmes. As Ireland’s own progress on gender equality has demonstrated, equitable access to quality health and education is the bedrock on which women’s economic and political empowerment is built. For example in 2010, Irish Aid contributed €25.5 m. to the education sectors in Zambia, Lesotho, Uganda and Mozambique. The gender parity in all of these countries, including at secondary level has improved significantly in recent years. In Lesotho and Ethiopia, Ireland has worked with Planned Parenthood Associations to provide greater access to reproductive health programmes.

We have supported reform of national policy and legislation, such as the introduction of new legislation on inheritance rights and land reform in countries such as Uganda and Sierra Leone.

Civil society organizations working on gender equality and women’s empowerment are key partners in our work. One civil society partner providing micro-credit to women clients in Timor Leste reports that improving household incomes through participation in trading has enabled women to enhance their status within the family and communities, and influence key decisions such as on their children’s education.

Fair Trade

Networking, alliance-building and capacity development are other components of our work in this area. Irish Aid has supported Fair Trade organizations in Central America and East Africa for a number of years now. During 2010, support was provided for the establishment of a local chapter of the “Women in Coffee Alliance” in Kenya , one of a very small number of organizations dedicated to improving the conditions of women in the coffee sector by providing information and capacity development. Evidence from fair trade programmes across the developing world suggests that this type of support is essential, as the Fair Trade focus on growing and trading export crops can often sideline women. Support for the International Labour Organization’s Women’s Entrepreneurship Development and Gender Equality programme resulted in more than 230 women in Tanzania strengthening their skills and thereby increasing their market access, including by participating in exhibitions and trade fairs inside and outside the country.

It is clear, therefore, that although the dynamics, pace, and direction of change will vary across countries and cultures, there are some insights from Ireland’s experiences which can be shared with our partners. First of all, equal access to quality education, as well as maternal and reproductive health, are the foundations of equality and empowerment. Legislative and policy reform is critical. Undoubtedly, external influences such as Ireland’s accession to the European Union were key junctures in the process of legislative and policy reform, which began in the 1970s. The women’s movement drove change in Ireland from the bottom up, just as the women’s movement in many the developing countries is a key driver of change and will continue to receive Irish Aid support. Women need role models and support networks to demonstrate what is possible. Finally, women’s traditional “caring” roles, inequality in the sharing of these roles between men and women, as well as our perceptions of what are appropriate roles for women and men both in the home and in the economy, continue to be key constraints to women’s economic empowerment. Progress on these issues can make a real difference to ensuring equality and empowerment for women in all countries and ultimately to building sustainable economies.

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● Jan O’Sullivan was elected a member of the Irish parliament in 1998, and was appointed Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs with special responsibility for Trade and Development in March 2011.