The Social Norms Factor: How Gendered Social Norms Influence How We Empower Women in Market Systems Development

  • Partner: BEAM Exchange
  • Publication Type: Report
  • Date: July 2016

This paper explores how social norms influence women’s economic empowerment in market systems development, and what practical lessons might be learned. It documents how gendered social norms are currently understood in academic research, then attempts to present the current state of practice for market systems programmes via two in-depth cases, and seven mini-cases.

Read More

Scaling Impact: Cambodia MSME Ex-Post Assessment

  • Partner: Leveraging Economic Opportunities (LEO), United States Agency for International Development (USAID)
  • Publication Type: Report
  • Date: 2016

Over the course of the Leveraging Economic Opportunities (LEO) activity, MSA discovered that there had been very analysis of the durability of the results created by market systems development initiatives following their completion. Consequently, MSA conducted this ex-post assessment of the USAID/Cambodia Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise (MSME) project's work in the swine sector five years following its closure. MSME promoted the use by the private sector of an embedded training model, in which companies would provide technical information on input selection and application at no direct charge to swine farmers in order to increase input sales. MSA’s research found that the embedded training model has endured and indeed expanded since the end of the project, being used to varying extents by the majority of the firms in the sector, indicating that it has become an industry norm.

Read More

Policy brief for donors and decision makers when designing and measuring the results of gender-responsive PSD programs: Key lessons and recommendations drawn from a pilot study of BMZfunded, GIZ-implemented interventions

  • Partner: Donor Committee for Enterprise Development (DCED)
  • Publication Type: Brief
  • Date: 2016

This brief presents policy recommendations based on findings from a pilot study conducted by Marketshare Associates in Egypt and Morocco on the household level results of GIZ implemented, BMZ-funded private sector development (PSD) programs. The study design integrates innovative qualitative household level monitoring tools to develop a more complete picture of if, how and why interventions result in empowerment.

Read More

Women’s Economic Empowerment in the MENA Region: Rapid Assessment of Household Level Results

  • Partner: GIZ (Deutsche Gesellschaft für internationale Zusammenarbeit)
  • Publication Type: Report
  • Date: March 2016

This report presents findings from a pilot study using a qualitative Rapid Assessment tool designed to integrate household-level indicators of WEE into results measurement systems. It synthesizes findings from interviews conducted with women beneficiaries in Egypt and Morocco, and provides a preliminary understanding of household-level results of BMZ-funded women’s economic empowerment activities.

Read More

Promoting Women’s Economic Empowerment Beyond Production in Market Systems Programs

  • Partner: Leveraging Economic Opportunities (LEO)
  • Publication Type: Brief
  • Date: 2016

This brief examines how and why practitioners are achieving women's economic empowerment (WEE) outcomes through interventions that seek to promote and empower women in agricultural roles beyond production. More specifically, this brief presents a survey of promising strategies and recommendations for further investigation.

Read More

Measuring Women’s Economic Empowerment in Market Systems

  • Partner: The SEEP Network, UN Women, and Leveraging Economic Opportunities (LEO)
  • Publication Type: Webinar
  • Date: August 28, 2015

Gender inequality and the process of empowerment are dynamic and complex, as are the market systems in which women work. This webinar explored practices in measuring women's economic empowerment such as innovations in measuring agency, gender norms, and gendered behavior changes at the firm and household level, as well as insights from implementing these practices when working with the private sector.

Read More

Workforce Development Programming: Economic Strengthening and Adolescent Girls

  • Partner: The SEEP Network
  • Publication Type: Webinar
  • Date: August 4, 2015

This webinar focuses on understanding what type of programming works in reaching and engaging adolescents in economic and financial activity, with a special interest in those programs that focus on girls and young women. The webinar explores experiences from the World Bank's Adolescent Girls Initiative (AGI), a public-private partnership that was launched in 2008 and now spans eight countries, as well as the CYFI School Bank program.

Read More

Six Ways Women Add Value to Business

  • Partner: Leveraging Economic Opportunities (LEO)
  • Publication Type: Blog Post
  • Date: July 7, 2015

Through research under the USAID-funded Leveraging Economic Opportunities (LEO) project, we have found that implementers who successfully persuade businesses to adopt inclusive business practices to empower women often focus on “making the business case.” They also stress the importance of being able to speak the language of the private sector.

Read More

Making the Business Case: Women’s Economic Empowerment in Market Systems Development

  • Partner: Leveraging Economic Opportunities (LEO)
  • Publication Type: Report
  • Date: March 2015

This paper, based on extensive research and interviews, provides the rationale that market systems facilitation practitioners can use to engage private sector firms in efforts to empower women. From identifying partners to articulating the mutually beneficial value of women's inclusion, the paper offers guidance and real-world examples to help companies empower women working at every level of the economy.

Read More

Women’s Economic Empowerment: Pushing the Frontiers of Inclusive Market Development

  • Partner: Leveraging Economic Opportunities (LEO)
  • Publication Type: Report
  • Date: November 2014

The framework presented in this paper identifies gender considerations and provides examples for facilitating women’s economic empowerment in inclusive market systems. By explicitly taking gender dynamics into account, inclusive market systems can empower women, leading to wide-ranging development dividends for both women and men, their families, and wider society.

Read More