UN: Investing In Women Entrepreneurs, Business Leaders Is Smart Economics

Tehran, Aug 22, IRNA – “Investing in women’s entrepreneurial leadership, and the empowerment of women, is smart economics - which is why women’s empowerment is one of the most important development priorities for the countries of Asia and the Pacific,” said a senior UN official. Noeleen Heyzer, the United Nations Under-Secretary-General and Executive Secretary of the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), made the remarks while addressing senior Cambodian policy-makers and women business leaders in Phnom Penh on Wednesday, as part of an official visit to the country, a press release issued by the UN Information Center (UNIC) said. “I am deeply impressed by the renewed focus in Cambodia on women’s economic empowerment,” said Heyzer. “Initiatives that help women to move up the business value chain also help to ensure that other issues affecting women, like health and education, are given greater priority.” Speaking about the impact of global financial crises on the country, Dr. Heyzer added: “The Cambodian experience holds a number of important lessons for the developing economies of our region. Despite a decade of exceptional economic growth, averaging more than 9% annually, levels of inequality in Cambodia have continued to rise.” “Reduced demand for garment exports to the markets of the United States and Europe, for instance, have led to the loss of more than 70,000 jobs, underlining the need for both economic diversification and skills training for women, who make up 90% of the employees in this sector.” Although more than 80% of women and girls over the age of 15 participate in the Cambodian workforce, 82% of these jobs are in the informal sector, and women earn only about 70% of men’s wages. It has been estimated by ESCAP that limits on women’s economic participation costs the region, as a whole, nearly US$90 billion each year in lost productivity. Heyzer commended Cambodia’s recent successes in improving primary and secondary school enrollment rates for girls. She also highlighted improvements in school completion and literacy rates for Cambodian girls, as a result of government assistance with transportation, scholarships, accommodation and training. “The gender gap is being reduced through better access for girls to education – and more must be done especially at tertiary level.” Cambodia has also more than doubled the percentage of women in the National Parliament since 1990 – to 20.3% this year./end