Women, Leadership & the Economy in South Asia Conference Report Submitted By Charu Chadha, Editor, Business 360 Supported By: Sunaina Budathoki Organized by South Asian Women Development Forum (SAWDF) Kathmandu 19-20 October 2016 Contents Introduction ............................................................................................................................................. 4 Conference Rationale ............................................................................................................................ 4 Conference Objectives .......................................................................................................................... 5 Issues Covered ...................................................................................................................................... 5 Inaugural Event ..................................................................................................................................... 5 Talk Program: South Asian Women Leaders – The Change Makers ................................................... 7 Conference Day 1 ........................................................................................................................................ 9 Session 1: Role of national federations and chambers as a force in the economic development of women, best model projects ................................................................................................................. 10 Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam Green Industrial Park Jyothi Rao, Vice President, Association of Lady Entrepreneurs of India (ALEAP), India ................ 11 Developing Goat Value Chains in Collaboration with USAID Shireen Arshad Khan, Women Chamber of Commerce & Industry, Bahawalpur, Pakistan .............. 12 Integrated Gramin Bank Module and Fair Trade principles MANUSHI .......................................................................................................................................... 12 Developing Sustainable Supply Chains and Enhancing Rural Livelihoods with Medicinal Plants and Herbs Damche Dem, President, Bhutan Association of Women Entrepreneurs (BAOWE) ......................... 13 Sheuti Nasreen Awal Mintoo, President Women Entrepreneurs Association of Bangladesh........................ 13 Session 2: Women Entrepreneurs Linking Rural Women Producers to Access Local and International Markets ........................................................................................................................... 14 Fiber Weave Products Shyam Badan Shrestha, Founder and Promoter, Nepal Knotcraft Centre .......................................... 14 Linking with Sheuti to Reach Products to National and International Markets Salma Masud, President, Dishari Foundation, Bangladesh ................................................................ 15 Nectar Fresh by Ms. Chayaa Nanjapp Suchaitra Eashwar, Catalyst for Women Entrepreneurs, India ........................................................... 16 Ms. B.R. Vasudha of Shell Apparels, 1993 Jyoti Balakrishna, President, Association of Women Entrepreneurs of Karnataka (AWAKE) .......... 17 Maria B. Naheed Masud, Federation of Pakistan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI), Pakistan ..... 18 Sandra Wanduragala of Selyn, 1991 Indira Kulatilake, Former Chairperson, Women’s Chamber of Industry and Commerce, Sri Lanka . 19 Conference Day 2 ...................................................................................................................................... 20 Session 1: Women Entrepreneurs linking rural women producers to access local and international markets ........................................................................................................................... 21 Mahi Enterprises, Nepal Rita Bhandari ...................................................................................................................................... 22 Medicinal Plants and Herbs: Developing Sustainable Supply Chain and Enhancing Rural Livelihoods in collaboration with BAOWE Kinlay Tshering, Chief Horticulture Officer, Ministry of Agriculture and Forest, Government of Bhutan ................................................................................................................................................. 22 Juweyriya Wajdhy’s culinary business Mariyam Mohamad Didi, Addu Women’s Association, Maldives ..................................................... 23 Siali Leaf Plates, Orissa Rajni Agarwal, President, Federation of Indian Women Entrepreneurs, India ................................... 23 Session 2: Sharing Gender Friendly Policies to Promote Women’s Entrepreneurship and Leadership ............................................................................................................................................. 24 Hon. Minister Hameeda Waheed Ud Din, Pakistan ............................................................................ 25 Dr Bina Pradhan, Gender Specialist and Socio Economist ................................................................. 26 Nilufar Chowdhury, Former Member of Parliament .......................................................................... 26 Archana Bhatnagar, Managing Director, Haylide Chemicals & Madhya Pradesh Association of Women Entrepreneurs (MAWE) ........................................................................................................ 27 Hon. Kinlay Om, Member of Parliament, Bhutan .............................................................................. 27 Sheeza Imad, Association of Maldives Working Women for Economic Development, Maldives .... 27 Indira Kulatilake, Women’s Chamber of Industry & Commerce, Sri Lanka ..................................... 28 Homa Usmany, Executive Director, Leading Entrepreneurs for Afghanistan’s Development (LEAD), Afghanistan ......................................................................................................................................... 28 Session 3: Group Work: Recommendations on gender friendly policies to promote women’s entrepreneurship and regional trade in South Asia ........................................................................... 29 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................................. 31 Introduction South Asian Women Development Forum (SAWDF), a SAARC Recognized Body, is a member based regional body representing national women entrepreneurs’ associations/organizations; institutions working towards the socio-economic sectors in the SAARC Region. SAWDF membership is based on organizations with extensive work around women’s entrepreneurship. The forum has organized several workshops, seminars, annual forums and conferences for networking and capacity building, disseminating information, and identifying common issues. SAWDF has the experience and expertise in bringing together a consortium of women led institutions through SAWDF Chapters in South Asia. The South Asian Women Development Forum is incorporated under the Organization Registration Act 1977, is an autonomous, nonprofit organization based in Kathmandu, Nepal. SAWDF was granted the status of SAARC Recognized Body by the 36th Session of the SAARC Council Ministers at the 18th SAARC Summit which was held in Kathmandu on 24th of November 2014. As the first and only SAARC Recognized Body working on gender issues, SAWDF facilitates in taking forward the recommendations drawn from the deliberations of national programs, as regional instruments for developing gender policies. SAWDF Work Modality: • Capacity building, training, dialogue and networking at national and regional levels. • Replication of model projects through information dissemination. • Regional workshops to harmonize inputs for preparing best practices in gender policy and institutional frameworks. • Catalyzing strengthening the voice of women for empowerment and gender equality in the South Asian region. • Facilitate taking forward recommendations drawn from deliberations of national programs as regional instruments for developing gender policies to be integrated into regional summits. Conference Rationale SAWDF membership is based on organisations with extensive work around women’s entrepreneurship. SAWDF has the expertise and experience in bringing together a consortium of women led institutions, think tanks, federations and chambers of South Asia to share learning and data about their women’s economic empowerment projects. The forum with its working counterparts have developed a series of cases exploring the limitations that gender sets on women’s engagement in the South Asian economy, including their access to capital and their participation in the SAARC region markets. The conference on WOMEN, LEADERSHIP & THE ECONOMY IN SOUTH ASIA comes at a time when regional integration is being given much impetus yet political constraints are not allowing people of the region to advance intra-regional economic opportunities. Especially women stand particularly vulnerable to these external forces. Timed to take place prior to the 19th SAARC Summit, the conference hopes to draw attention and action to prioritize women’s economic empowerment and leadership in the summit’s deliberations. The conference brought together the strengths of delegates from the eight countries to provide an opportunity to network, share best practices and find areas of collaborative effort to take forward the