Canada Promotes Women's Economic Empowerment

News Release

Canada announces support for a new initiative in the Philippines, at the APEC Women and the Economy Forum

May 22, 2014 - Beijing, China - Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development Canada

Today, at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Women and the Economy Forum in Beijing, China, Lois Brown, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of International Development, on behalf of the Honourable Christian Paradis, Minister of International Development and La Francophonie, announced a new initiative to promote women's economic empowerment in the Philippines.

"Women's micro-enterprises play a critical role in a great many economies around the world, and today's announcement is about providing economic support and empowerment to women, as workers, as entrepreneurs and as leaders," said PS Brown. "More than 10,000 women entrepreneurs and their families, communities and businesses will benefit from this assistance aimed at helping build their skills, and get better access to markets and business services, including financing."

Today's announcement builds upon the success of a Canada-supported project with the Philippine Commission on Women. This new initiative will provide technical assistance to women to help them take advantage of better opportunities for scaling up their businesses; it will also help improve competition and trade policies, as well as certification procedures and standards. Finally, the new initiative will provide training in key industry subsectors like food and woven cloth/textile across the Philippines' main island groups (Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao).

The APEC Women and the Economy Forum is one of the ministerial-level meetings that take place in the lead-up to the APEC Leaders' Summit. This year's Leaders' Summit will take place in November in Beijing under the theme Shaping the Future Through Asia-Pacific Leadership.

Quick Facts

The recently completed Canada-supported project "GREAT Women" ($6.2 million, 2006–2014) benefited close to 14,000 women microentrepreneurs across the Philippines.
Today's announcement, the Philippines Women's Economic Empowerment project, is for up to $8 million, over six years (2014–2020).
Globally, there has been progress on women's economic empowerment. Women represent 40 percent of the global labour force, 43 percent of the global agricultural workforce, and more than half of the world's university students.
In APEC economies, more than 60 percent of women are part of the formal economy.
Building women's economic empowerment is a strong complement to Canada's objectives related to improving maternal, newborn and child health. From May 28-30, 2014, in Toronto, Prime Minister Harper will be hosting Saving Every Woman, Every Child: Within Arm's Reach, an international summit that will build on Canada's leadership and shape the future of global action on maternal and child health issues.
Canadian women are a growing force in the Canadian economy. In 2012, there were more than 950,000 women entrepreneurs in Canada in 2012. Between 2003 and 2012, the number of self-employed women grew 50 percent faster (at 14 percent) than the rate of male self-employment (nine percent). More than 570,000 Canadians are employed by women-owned businesses, and 2.6 million people are employed by firms with some degree of female ownership.

Contacts

Sandrine Perion
Press Secretary
Office of the Minister of International Development and La Francophonie
819-953-9528
sandrine.perion@international.gc.ca

Media Relations Office
Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development Canada
343-203-7700
media@international.gc.ca
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Canada Promotes Women's Economic Empowerment

News Release

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