he world will not defeat COVID-19 by destroying business assets. Yet that is what is happening to many business owners around the world. Their property and livelihoods are being destroyed in the rush to implement lockdowns and isolation orders, and women business owners are being disproportionately affected. In one small country, a Center for International Private Enterprise (CIPE) local chamber of commerce partner witnessed authorities violently break up an outdoor market, dispersing vendors for defying lockdown orders. The partner said, “They destroyed everything. The produce for sale. The display tables. Everything … leaving many women business owners with nothing and little hope of earning money.”
Fortunately, the chamber leader raised this issue with a coalition of private and public sector leaders. Within 24 hours the coalition acted and the government responded with a hotline to report police brutality. This effectively sparked a cultural shift to empower women in a place where simply speaking out against excessive force has been taboo.
New Burdens on Women
Despite this particular success, the pandemic’s impact threatens to roll back decades of advancement in women’s empowerment. Women are under-represented in both the governing bodies that levy the crisis response policies and business support organizations that advocate on behalf of the private sector. Successful COVID-19 responses require policies informed by women’s perspectives because the barriers to female participation are more complex and often tied to the social norms and problems of the communities in which women live. For example, social distancing policies exacerbate women’s disproportionate burden of care for children, elderly relatives, and the home. UN estimates prior to COVID-19 valued this work at nearly $11 trillion of global GDP.
Tragically, many women are unsafe at home. Bangladesh, the Philippines, and Kenya, countries that imposed mandatory stay-at-home orders, are among those reporting dramatic surges in domestic and gender-based violence (GBV). UN officials are sounding the alarm bells: COVID-19 could critically undermine progress made in recent years to end GBV, child marriage, and other harmful practices in low-income countries. Unintended pregnancy and maternal death rates are also expected to skyrocket because of disruptions to reproductive healthcare access. This all underscores the need to better understand the ultimate impact of COVID-19 public health responses on women’s economic well-being. A thorough understanding of this impact should shape necessary economic and social policy responses.
Unfortunately, sound policy is often undermined by the differing interests between the informal and registered small business sectors – both of which represent a great many women workers. In much of the world, the informal sector serves as both an entry point into entrepreneurship and the only mode of economic survival. For women, it offers a low-cost and flexible environment to manage the many demands on their time and effort. Selling in open-air markets for cash, and the “suitcase trade” of carrying products from one place to another, are for many women a lifeline. The restrictions on movement and the closing of open-air markets has put many in economic peril. While many small businesses receive government support to tide them over until the crisis wanes, these informal actors remain outside the rule of law and thus cannot access the benefits extended to registered and tax-paying businesses.
Reinforcing Gender Inequalities
Many women in the informal sector lack political representation through organized business associations because they operate outside the system. Their needs often go unarticulated, and thus are given lower priority by policy makers, reinforcing gender inequalities. Few programs exist to encourage women’s participation and membership in gender-oriented business associations is traditionally low. In many cases, useful business data either simply does not exist or is not shared broadly with economic actors in developing markets.
Ten million registered women-owned businesses exist across every sector of the global economy. Most of these are small-scale businesses focused on retail, trade, and light manufacturing. A recent survey by the Afghanistan Women’s Chamber of Commerce and Industry noted that 85% of women-owned businesses had to close in order to comply with government lockdown restrictions, yet were still required to pay rent to landlords. Ninety percent of those respondents expressed hopelessness to reopen their businesses if the lockdown order stretched beyond two or three months. Women-owned businesses, particularly those which have surpassed the microfinance level and are poised to create more jobs, often find their access to credit hampered by lending practices that are intentionally or unintentionally discriminatory. For example, collateral requirements do not often recognize assets held by women, such as jewelry or equipment. Also, bankers are less likely to offer loans using movable collateral during times of financial crisis.
Identifying New Opportunities
Despite these challenges, opportunity can grow from black swan events like COVID-19. Imaginative entrepreneurs and policy makers alike should use this moment to further women’s economic empowerment. Building the capacity of established networks, women’s chambers of commerce, and business associations may be key. The Afghanistan Women Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the vast South Asia Regional Network of Women’s Business Organizations are among those leading efforts in their countries and regions to bring more attention and resources to women-owned businesses, usually small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
Building on previous work to create women’s business agendas, the groups are recognized in their communities and are helping to exchange information between women owners, workers, and their governments about issues from social distancing policies to training and funding opportunities. The Women’s Business Resource Center in Papua New Guinea has helped more than 2,000 women since opening its doors three years ago and is gearing up a number of events and activities to support them through COVID-19 recovery. The activities include policy advocacy work to help inform leaders of women’s business needs during the pandemic. The networks are also serving as a conduit for corporate-social responsibility by organizing business leaders to donate money or personal protective equipment for medical workers. Meanwhile, several women’s chambers of commerce in Latin American countries are getting creative about providing an array of services for members, including psycho-social support such as free online yoga, music, and art courses.
As countries start to reopen segments of their economies, a realignment of trade patterns and shopping habits is invigorating digital commerce, a gender-neutral platform where women-owned businesses can compete and find scale. Building the appropriate framework for e-commerce is fairly universal and the lessons are replicable with the right tools. Women business owners can be empowered in this area by increasing internet access, particularly in rural areas, and aspiring women e-traders must be trained. Digital commerce does require a degree of formalization as electronic transfers and international shipping requirements often demand recognized citizenship credentials and associated licenses and permits. Women in many emerging economies will have the opportunity to register their citizenship and activate the accompanying civil and political rights.
Organize and Act
Ultimately the ability for women business owners to weather the COVID-19 storm depends on their ability to organize and act. This underscores the most critical function of chambers of commerce and other business support organizations worldwide and offers a clear example of activism as a key pillar of democracy. No other system of government today offers the tools necessary for every citizen, especially those marginalized by the powerful, to organize and act on behalf of their constituents. Given this and the competitive nature of policy development in resource-starved times, those who shout the loudest, longest, and with the most convincing argument are likely to succeed.
While COVID-19 has hit SMEs and the informal sector hardest, the nature of commerce also offers resiliency, allowing for a fast start up once conditions improve. By taking the correct steps now, we can empower women for years after this crisis is past.
a global affairs media network
COVID-19 Brings New Economic Challenges for Women
June 26, 2020
Governments are destroying business assets in their efforts to contain the COVID-19 outbreak. Women are disproportionately impacted.
T
he world will not defeat COVID-19 by destroying business assets. Yet that is what is happening to many business owners around the world. Their property and livelihoods are being destroyed in the rush to implement lockdowns and isolation orders, and women business owners are being disproportionately affected. In one small country, a Center for International Private Enterprise (CIPE) local chamber of commerce partner witnessed authorities violently break up an outdoor market, dispersing vendors for defying lockdown orders. The partner said, “They destroyed everything. The produce for sale. The display tables. Everything … leaving many women business owners with nothing and little hope of earning money.”
Fortunately, the chamber leader raised this issue with a coalition of private and public sector leaders. Within 24 hours the coalition acted and the government responded with a hotline to report police brutality. This effectively sparked a cultural shift to empower women in a place where simply speaking out against excessive force has been taboo.
New Burdens on Women
Despite this particular success, the pandemic’s impact threatens to roll back decades of advancement in women’s empowerment. Women are under-represented in both the governing bodies that levy the crisis response policies and business support organizations that advocate on behalf of the private sector. Successful COVID-19 responses require policies informed by women’s perspectives because the barriers to female participation are more complex and often tied to the social norms and problems of the communities in which women live. For example, social distancing policies exacerbate women’s disproportionate burden of care for children, elderly relatives, and the home. UN estimates prior to COVID-19 valued this work at nearly $11 trillion of global GDP.
Tragically, many women are unsafe at home. Bangladesh, the Philippines, and Kenya, countries that imposed mandatory stay-at-home orders, are among those reporting dramatic surges in domestic and gender-based violence (GBV). UN officials are sounding the alarm bells: COVID-19 could critically undermine progress made in recent years to end GBV, child marriage, and other harmful practices in low-income countries. Unintended pregnancy and maternal death rates are also expected to skyrocket because of disruptions to reproductive healthcare access. This all underscores the need to better understand the ultimate impact of COVID-19 public health responses on women’s economic well-being. A thorough understanding of this impact should shape necessary economic and social policy responses.
Unfortunately, sound policy is often undermined by the differing interests between the informal and registered small business sectors – both of which represent a great many women workers. In much of the world, the informal sector serves as both an entry point into entrepreneurship and the only mode of economic survival. For women, it offers a low-cost and flexible environment to manage the many demands on their time and effort. Selling in open-air markets for cash, and the “suitcase trade” of carrying products from one place to another, are for many women a lifeline. The restrictions on movement and the closing of open-air markets has put many in economic peril. While many small businesses receive government support to tide them over until the crisis wanes, these informal actors remain outside the rule of law and thus cannot access the benefits extended to registered and tax-paying businesses.
Reinforcing Gender Inequalities
Many women in the informal sector lack political representation through organized business associations because they operate outside the system. Their needs often go unarticulated, and thus are given lower priority by policy makers, reinforcing gender inequalities. Few programs exist to encourage women’s participation and membership in gender-oriented business associations is traditionally low. In many cases, useful business data either simply does not exist or is not shared broadly with economic actors in developing markets.
Ten million registered women-owned businesses exist across every sector of the global economy. Most of these are small-scale businesses focused on retail, trade, and light manufacturing. A recent survey by the Afghanistan Women’s Chamber of Commerce and Industry noted that 85% of women-owned businesses had to close in order to comply with government lockdown restrictions, yet were still required to pay rent to landlords. Ninety percent of those respondents expressed hopelessness to reopen their businesses if the lockdown order stretched beyond two or three months. Women-owned businesses, particularly those which have surpassed the microfinance level and are poised to create more jobs, often find their access to credit hampered by lending practices that are intentionally or unintentionally discriminatory. For example, collateral requirements do not often recognize assets held by women, such as jewelry or equipment. Also, bankers are less likely to offer loans using movable collateral during times of financial crisis.
Identifying New Opportunities
Despite these challenges, opportunity can grow from black swan events like COVID-19. Imaginative entrepreneurs and policy makers alike should use this moment to further women’s economic empowerment. Building the capacity of established networks, women’s chambers of commerce, and business associations may be key. The Afghanistan Women Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the vast South Asia Regional Network of Women’s Business Organizations are among those leading efforts in their countries and regions to bring more attention and resources to women-owned businesses, usually small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
Building on previous work to create women’s business agendas, the groups are recognized in their communities and are helping to exchange information between women owners, workers, and their governments about issues from social distancing policies to training and funding opportunities. The Women’s Business Resource Center in Papua New Guinea has helped more than 2,000 women since opening its doors three years ago and is gearing up a number of events and activities to support them through COVID-19 recovery. The activities include policy advocacy work to help inform leaders of women’s business needs during the pandemic. The networks are also serving as a conduit for corporate-social responsibility by organizing business leaders to donate money or personal protective equipment for medical workers. Meanwhile, several women’s chambers of commerce in Latin American countries are getting creative about providing an array of services for members, including psycho-social support such as free online yoga, music, and art courses.
As countries start to reopen segments of their economies, a realignment of trade patterns and shopping habits is invigorating digital commerce, a gender-neutral platform where women-owned businesses can compete and find scale. Building the appropriate framework for e-commerce is fairly universal and the lessons are replicable with the right tools. Women business owners can be empowered in this area by increasing internet access, particularly in rural areas, and aspiring women e-traders must be trained. Digital commerce does require a degree of formalization as electronic transfers and international shipping requirements often demand recognized citizenship credentials and associated licenses and permits. Women in many emerging economies will have the opportunity to register their citizenship and activate the accompanying civil and political rights.
Organize and Act
Ultimately the ability for women business owners to weather the COVID-19 storm depends on their ability to organize and act. This underscores the most critical function of chambers of commerce and other business support organizations worldwide and offers a clear example of activism as a key pillar of democracy. No other system of government today offers the tools necessary for every citizen, especially those marginalized by the powerful, to organize and act on behalf of their constituents. Given this and the competitive nature of policy development in resource-starved times, those who shout the loudest, longest, and with the most convincing argument are likely to succeed.
While COVID-19 has hit SMEs and the informal sector hardest, the nature of commerce also offers resiliency, allowing for a fast start up once conditions improve. By taking the correct steps now, we can empower women for years after this crisis is past.
