IFC Sustainability

Supporting the creation and growth of women-owned enterprises is about getting the policies right so that both women and men benefit. SME owners are often slowed or stymied by legal, regulatory, and institutional barriers. Women entrepreneurs can face even more obstacles than men. The economic cost is high.

The removal of gender barriers in the business and regulatory environment of client countries is mainstreamed in IFC's investment climate work. Our methodology is being implemented in reform programs in over a dozen countries in five regions, with tangible results.

IFC's investment climate specialists work with governments and private sector stakeholders to ensure that entrepreneurs can more easily register their businesses, pay taxes, resolve disputes, and trade across borders.

Together with our World Bank Group colleagues, we provide practical recommendations for change in these areas. We also address specific topics such as how to build women's business networks or how to ensure that women can take advantage of special economic zones.

IFC also provides replicable and scalable tools to promote reform, such as our step-by-step guide called Gender Dimensions of Investment Climate Reform. The guide provides a methodology for ensuring that key regulatory reforms respond to the needs of women entrepreneurs.

To facilitate policy discussion, IFC and the World Bank also publish an extensive database comparing how men and women are treated from a legal perspective when it comes to entrepreneurship and employment in many countries.

To learn more, contact IFC's Women in Business team.

Links

• IFC/WB Investment Climate website
• Report: Gender Dimensions of Investment Climate Reform
• Women, Business, and the Law website
• Gender Law Library