It's time to strengthen small business policy literacy

Two new reports outline measures to support women entrepreneurs

In June 2021, the OECD and Global Women’s Enterprise Policy Research Group (Global WEP) released the report, Entrepreneurship Policies through a Gender Lens. The 27-country study draws on insights about women’s enterprise policies from 34 academics. The co-edited and co-authored report documents numerous challenges in establishing robust and sustainable policy frameworks and programs to support women-identified entrepreneurs.

Lethargic government responses are reflected in:

·?????Policies without commensurate programming.

·?????Programs without policy support increasing vulnerability to funding cutbacks, and

·?????Policies to support women entrepreneurs that simply don’t work.

Table 1 outlines the policy areas and country focus that inform recommendations to foster gender-sensitive entrepreneurship ecosystems.

Source: OECD/Global Women’s Enterprise Policy Research Group (2021). Entrepreneurship Policies through a Gender Lens. Paris, OECD.

W20 Communiqué

Citing the 2021 OECD/Global WEP study, W(omen)20 recently released the W20 Communiqué. The communiqué calls on the G20 to monitor progress and accountability on commitments to gender equality by:

·?????Placing gender equality at the heart of budgeting decisions.

·?????Ensuring equal representation of women at all levels of decision making.

·?????Collecting, analyzing, and reporting on all areas of active life using gender-sensitive and disaggregated data.

·?????Developing gender impact assessments, and

·?????Promoting education for women and girls by investing in infrastructure.

I am honoured to have participated as a member of the W20 Delegation of Canada, and to work with international colleagues in the W20 Finance and Entrepreneurship Committee to develop recommendations submitted to G20 leaders for consideration.?

These policy reports provide a comprehensive and timely overview of the challenges, opportunities, and priorities to support self-employed women and women-owned small and medium-sized enterprises, many that are disproportionately impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Review these reports to strengthen your women's enterprise policy literacy. Then share the the OECD/Global WEP report and W20 Communiqué with grassroots organizations, politicians, policymakers, industry associations, chambers of commerce, academics and other stakeholders who are committed to supporting diverse women entrepreneurs, gender equality and women’s economic empowerment.?

Who is Global WEP?

The Global Women’s Entrepreneurship Policy (Global WEP) is a network of researchers who are advancing insights to inform inclusive entrepreneurship policies. Our network is:

·?????Mapping and critically comparing women’s entrepreneurship policies.

·?????Identifying good practice examples of effective policy supports.

·?????Informing international, national, and regional policy development.

·?????Bring together scholars interested in women’s entrepreneurship policy.

·?????Creating and sharing publication opportunities related to women’s entrepreneurship policy development.

Who is W20?

W20 represents the interests of women and is an official Engagement Group of the G20. Countries are represented by delegations populated by experts in public policy, advocacy, women’s economic empowerment and gender equality.

Access related uOttawa Telfer School of Management uOttawa studies at

·?????Inclusive Entrepreneurship Education and Training

·?????Women’s Entrepreneurship Research Exchange