Win-Win: Gender Equality means Good Business programme launched in Jamaica

Kingston, Jamaica: September 25, 2018

The Win-Win: Gender Equality means Good Business programme has been launched in Jamaica.

Around 90 per cent of people employed globally, work in the private sector. Given this statistic, the “Win-Win: Gender Equality means Good Business” programme has the potential to transform the world of work.

UN Women  Regional Win-Win Coordinator Esther Senso Ruiz explained that Win-Win is a strategic partnership between UN Women, the European Union and the ILO for the promotion of gender equality in the private sector.

Data for Latin America and the Caribbean, show that:

• Only 2 per cent of companies in the region have a woman CEO;
• 80 per cent of men and 52 per cent of women participate in the labour market;
• 60 per cent of women are in informal jobs (Progress of Women in Latin America and the Caribbean 2017 Report – UN Women).

Even as a just published World Bank Group study ranked Jamaica as one of the 12 best economies to start a business in 2018[1], a recent Inter-American Development Bank Group study[2] ranked Jamaica last amongst 20 countries for the overall environment for female entrepreneurs.  The IDB report indicated that the challenges of doing business in Jamaica are greater for women.  In order to achieve “Vision 2030” the potential of women business owners must be harnessed and leveraged.

Jamaica is the lone Caribbean country in the six-nation “Win-Win: Gender Equality means Good Business” Programme, carried out by UN Women, the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and the European Union. The other countries are Brazil, Uruguay, Chile, Costa Rica, and Argentina. UN Women Brazil leads the programme’s regional implementation. The expected impact is to contribute to women’s economic empowerment and leadership for sustainable, inclusive and equitable growth while building networks and linkages for triangular cooperation among Latin America and the Caribbean and the EU.