Investment Climate Reform Facility

Care work, which includes taking care of family members and housework such as cleaning and cooking, is critical to the functioning and overall well-being of families, societies and economies. However, this work falls disproportionately on women and young girls. Current global estimates indicate that women carry out most of the unpaid care work globally, without exception. This gap is greater in the Africa, the Caribbean, and the Pacific regions due to more limited access to infrastructure and public services, low levels of public and private investment in the care sector, the labour-intensive nature of the work for rural populations, and gender norms that often position and designate care work as the sole responsibility of women. Read our report on 'Business Environment Reforms and the Care Economy' ➡ https://lnkd.in/epWsS8nj Mariette Heuzé 🌏

📢 Today is the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women 👩! Worldwide women enjoy less than two-thirds of the legal rights available to men. Empowering women is not just a matter of social justice. It is a prerequisite for economic development. When laws restrict women’s voice and agency, fail to protect them from violence, or discriminate them at the workplace, women are less likely to participate fully in the economy and to contribute with their talent, knowledge, and skills. Economies that limit women’s contributions cannot then reach their full potential. Read our report ‘How to make business environment work for women’s economic empowerment’ to learn more about this topic ➡ https://lnkd.in/eb8QTCXN SNV Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH British Council Expertise France Sarah Weiß Marijke Geerts Elena Moser Zotta Diego Borrero-Magana

We have recently visited Santo Domingo as part of our intervention with Center for Exports and Investment of the Dominican Republic (Prodominica) to develop a groundbreaking national strategy for women exporters. During our visit, we held workshops and bilateral meetings with key public and private stakeholders, fostering collaboration and refining the first proposal for this transformative initiative. The strategy will be officially launched next month at the Women in Exports annual event. Learn more about this intervention ➡ https://lnkd.in/emnYax3k #EmpoweringWomen #GlobalTrade #ProDominicana SNV Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH British Council Expertise France Diego Borrero-Magana Shunko Rojas

La diaspora: un levier pour le développement! Les entrepreneur.e.s de la diaspora jouent un rôle clé dans la croissance des pays d’Afrique, des Caraïbes et du Pacifique. Cependant, ils ou elles peuvent faire face à des défis uniques. Notre dernier rapport explore en profondeur ces enjeux et propose des solutions concrètes pour aider les entrepreneur.e.s de la diaspora à maximiser leur impact. À lire pour mieux comprendre et agir ➡ https://lnkd.in/epRRQK3E Expertise France SNV Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH British Council Malick Ndaw Jasmine Galloul Marijke Geerts

📣 We are thrilled to announce that the Investment Climate Reform Facility's 2023-2024 Annual Progress Report is out. 📃 The report presents the achievement of the project, co-implemented by Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, SNV, British Council and Expertise France, to improve the business environment and investment climate in African, Caribbean, and Pacific (#ACP) countries. 👉 By fostering reforms that create more favourable conditions for businesses, the ICR Facility aims to support private sector growth, job creation, and sustainable economic development. Some of their accomplishments: ✅ 72 ACP countries covered; ✅ 91 partner organisations supported through business environment initiatives; ✅ 62 business environment interventions completed, 57% of these focused on promoting gender equality; ✅61 Development Finance Institutions supported through capacity building; ✅183 knowledge products and 135 technical reports delivered. At the heart of the work of the ICR Facility is the belief that inclusive economies are stronger economies. By prioritising gender equality, they are working to ensure that women have equal opportunities to participate fully in economic life. 🔗 Curious to learn more? Dive into their Annual Report for deeper and see the positive changes they’re driving across ACP countries: https://lnkd.in/egZ9cFuu #PrivateSectorGrowth #JobCreation #SustainableEconomicDevelopment #Innovation #GenderEquality

Last month, we had the privilege of hosting a training of trainers, in Abuja, Nigeria, with over 60 women entrepreneurs in Nigeria, organized with our partner BPW. This training aimed to empower micro and small-scale businesswomen with rights-based advocacy skills. It focused on empowering participants to advocate for clearer tax policies, digitalization of tax processes, harmonized levies, and better access to finance and market stalls. Furthermore the workshop also focused on training trainers, with the potential to expand a network of advocates who can continue to drive these important reforms helping create a more enabling environment for women in business. This training was organised as part of this intervention https://lnkd.in/eQv75y_G SNV Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH British Council Expertise France Diego Borrero-Magana Piet Vroeg Frederic Bustelo Dr Tahrat Shahid

The ICR Facility is committed to not only driving reforms but also to ensuring that the lessons learned, best practices, and technical expertise we gather are widely shared. This year’s Annual Report highlights our efforts to promote knowledge transfer and advance Women’s Economic Empowerment (WEE), two pillars of our approach to building inclusive economies across ACP countries. Key achievements:  📰 We have produced 176 knowledge products—including technical reports, manuals, and webinars—focusing on topics ranging from gender equality to investment climate reform.  👥 We have organised the Investment Climate Reform for Women’s Economic Empowerment (ICR4WEE) Conference, where we brought together over 140 stakeholders from across ACP countries to explore how we can create better opportunities for women to thrive in business.  🤝 Our initiatives have directly impacted 1,909 women 🙎♀️ through seminars, workshops, and training sessions designed to empower them with the skills and knowledge needed to navigate and shape the business environment. Our knowledge-sharing efforts help ensure that the progress we make is not limited to individual interventions, but instead has a lasting effect on the broader business environment across the regions. Dive into our Annual Report to learn more about the impact of our knowledge transfer efforts: https://lnkd.in/egZ9cFuu SNV Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH British Council Expertise France Marijke Geerts Christina Gautsch Diego Borrero-Magana Piet Vroeg

📣 Exciting News from the Dominican Republic! We are thrilled to announce the launch of an ICR Facility intervention in collaboration with ProDominicana Centro de Exportación e Inversión de la República, aimed at boosting women's economic empowerment through business regulation and policy reforms. Key Objective of the Intervention: To design and implement a strategy that promotes gender equity and strengthens the role of women-owned businesses in export sectors, leading to more competitive businesses, enhanced services, and new job opportunities. 💼 This intervention is a critical step in supporting the Dominican Republic's National Export Promotion Plan 2020-2030, which aims to increase the participation of women in priority export value chains. The ultimate goal is to develop a National Strategy to enhance women's engagement in exports, in alignment with the country's 2020-2024 Multi-Year National Plan. ➡ Follow the link to learn more about our work in the Dominican Republic: https://lnkd.in/emnYax3k Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH British Council Expertise France SNV

📣 The Investment Climate Reform Facility, a collaborative project by SNV, GIZ, Expertise France, and the British Council, has published its 2023-2024 Annual Report! The report highlights the Facility’s impactful work on improving the business environment and investment climate across African, Caribbean, and Pacific (ACP) countries. 🎯 Key achievements within the year include: ✅ 72 ACP countries reached through various initiatives. ✅ 91 partner organisations supported to improve the business environment. ✅ 62 business environment interventions completed, with 57% focusing on promoting gender equality.  ✅ 61 Development Finance Institutions (DFIs) supported through capacity building. ✅ 183 knowledge products and 135 technical reports published.   At the ICR Facility, we believe that inclusive economies are stronger. By prioritising gender equality, we work to ensure equal opportunities for full participation in economic life.   🔗 Curious to learn more? Dive into the Annual Report to see the positive changes we are contributing to across ACP countries: https://lnkd.in/egZ9cFuu Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH Expertise France, and British Council