ASSOCIATIONINSIGHT
Portable Sanitation Association International News
BIWEEKLY EDITION MARCH 3, 2021
Page 15
International Agreement Aims to Define Women's
Entrepreneurship and Support Women's Economic
Empowerment
G
eneva/Stockholm—The International Trade Centre (ITC) and the Swedish Institute for Standards (SIS) have
concluded an International Standards Organization (ISO) International Workshop Agreement (IWA) on
global definitions related to women's entrepreneurship. The aim of the IWA is to facilitate policymaking,
data collection, and access to capacity building, finance, and markets for women's economic empowerment.
ITC's SheTrades Initiative and SIS concluded a series of multi-
stakeholder consultations, funded by the Government of
Sweden, on terminology and general guidance related to
women's entrepreneurship on 16 December 2020. The result
will be published in the document ISO/IWA 34 Women's
entrepreneurship—Terminology and general guidance.
"The ISO/IWA-34 is a major milestone in the history of women's
entrepreneurial development. ITC looks forward to working with
our institutional partners and stakeholders everywhere to adopt
the definitions and guidelines outlined in the Agreement," said
Pamela Coke-Hamilton, Executive Director at ITC.
"The inclusive and
transparent process we followed has delivered a robust International
Workshop Agreement on women's entrepreneurship that reflects the
views and needs of diverse stakeholders from all regions of the world,"
remarked Vanessa Erogbogbo, Chair of the ISO/IWA 34 and Chief of
Sustainable and Inclusive Value Chains section at ITC.
"This is the first ISO deliverable on Women's entrepreneurship and also
the first digital IWA process, which enabled a broader participation
than would have been possible otherwise. There are several ideas for
additional work, so hopefully this is just the beginning,"added Maria
Gustafsson, Secretary of the ISO/IWA 34 and project manager at SIS.
"This International Workshop Agreement is the culmination of a robust,
consultative process with various stakeholders and it will guide ISO as its gender standards continue to grow,"
said ISO Secretary-General Sergio Mujica. "I would like to thank our partners, the International Trade Centre (ITC)
and the Swedish Institute for Standards (SIS), ISO member for the country, as well as the hundreds of experts that
participated in the IWA for their incredible hard work. Our journey together underscores the collaborative spirit
and quick development of the first ISO deliverable directly related to SDG 5—the first of many."
The ISO/IWA 34 will offer definitions, criteria, and guidelines on the following terms:
• Women-owned businesses;
• Women-led businesses;
• Women-led cooperatives; and
• Women-led informal enterprises
The final IWA will be submitted to ISO for publication. The document is expected to be published very soon.
Continued on page 16
Vanessa Erogbogbo
