Bridging
the gender gap in entrepreneurship
in Eastern Europe and CIS
Geneva, 13 June 2003 - Despite
success stories success, women entrepreneurs
are less numerous than men in all transition
countries, reveals a new UNECE publication.
In countries for which there are data,
men start their own businesses twice
as often as women. Only 9% of employed
women are entrepreneurs in the Czech
Republic as compared to 18.8% of men.
The situation is similar in Hungary
(women - 9.6% and men -18.7%) as well
as in Romania, though the proportion
of self-employed women is higher due
to the larger share of self-employed
in agriculture (women - 17.4% and men
- 32.6%). The gender gap in entrepreneurship
is even higher in Slovakia and Slovenia,
where women's share is respectively
4.1% (men - 10.9%) and 6.5% (men - 15.3%).
These proportions are slightly better
in Bulgaria, Croatia, Estonia, Latvia
and Lithuania. In most countries, however,
the gap between men and women in entrepreneurial
activities has widened in many of these
countries during the 1990s (see chart
2 and table
5).
The publication highlights
that these trends reflect a loss of
potential for job creation and growth
as shown by many developed countries,
where women-run enterprises are the
most dynamic segment of the SMEs sector.
In 2002, women-owned firms in the US
employed nearly 9.2 million workers,
up 30% from 1997, which reflects a growth
rate that is between one-and one-half
times the national average.
Women's Entrepreneurship
in Eastern Europe and CIS Countries
is the first publication under a new
series: ENTREPRENEURSHIP and SMEs and
draws attention to the problems and
policy issues related to women's entrepreneurship.
The volume has three parts. Part I presents
a regional overview of the situation,
together with the problems of women
entrepreneurs; Part II includes country
experiences, and Part III discusses
the importance of networks and the benefits
of connecting women-run enterprises
to the global digital economy.
It is underlined that
in addition to a weak market environment,
which exists in many countries in Eastern
Europe and CIS, women entrepreneurs
have to face gender specific barriers.
The latter include the collateral due
to uneven sharing of privatisation gains,
lack of networks and traditional views
on the role of women. As a result women
entrepreneurs experience greater difficulties
than men in obtaining credits, finding
business partners, accessing new markets
or getting information on business opportunities.
Clearly, development
of entrepreneurship in transition countries
requires more than liberalization and
privatisation. There is a need to support
it through policies and adequate institutions
in many areas, such as education and
training, access to credit and financing,
information, business networks and new
technologies. The Governments, in partnership
with other stakeholders, should take
the lead and responsibility for establishing
institutions and policies aimed at development
of SMEs. These policies, however, should
be gender sensitive and address specific
barriers in entrepreneurial activities.
The publication presents
arguments why and how programmes for
women entrepreneurs could be provided.
It concludes that support for women's
entrepreneurship has to be placed in
the broader context of labour market
policies, which should address anti-discrimination
measures and welfare reforms. Good practices
are also presented. At the end of 2001,
the Croatian Government adopted a national
policy of promoting gender equality
- the Croatian Programme of National
Policy from 2001 to 2005. A pilot project
on enhancing women entrepreneurs is
part of the policy package.
The UNECE plays an
active role in raising awareness on
the problems of women entrepreneurs,
facilitating and organizing regional
dialogue and exchange of good practices,
as well as building networks among women-entrepreneurs,
women's business associations, experts
and academic community, representatives
of governments and the international
community. UNECE organizes Forums of
Women Entrepreneurs every two years
at the Palais des Nations, as well as
sub-regional seminars. It has also established
a virtual Portrait
Gallery of Excellent Women Entrepreneurs
and a virtual Network
of Business Associations at its
web site. The UNECE Team of Specialists
on women's entrepreneurship works on
data collection, evaluation of trends
and the situation of women entrepreneurs
in various sub-regions and policy recommendations.
For further information
please contact:
Ewa Ruminska-Zimny
Senior Social Affairs Officer
United Nations Economic Commission
for Europe
Palais des Nations - Office 329-1
CH - 1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland
Phone: +41(0)22 917 16 98
Fax: +41(0)22 917 00 36
E-mail: [email protected]
Web site: http://www.unece.org/oes/gender
Ref: ECE/IREEDD/03/P10