APEC PPWE Ministerial Meeting 2021 hosted by APEC New Zealand

September 24, 2021

APEC PPWE Ministerial Meeting last September 24 was held during a time and a test to the limits of the economies from all over the world. Women unemployment has increased all over the world . Women often carry out significant unpaid responsibilities and we are given the unique opportunity to change the status quo. The decisions we make at APEC now be for a more resilient economy for women and girls . For policies on women economic productivity , greater quality of life , gender responsive policies for a successful economy .

The APEC PPWE high level dialogue to improve women’s resilience and participation in the formal economy.

APEC Women and the Economy Dashboard 2021 is a snapshot of APEC women’s participation in the economy trends through 95 indicators covering 2008-2020 . It measure progress, highlight data gaps and bring attention to policy and socio-cultural issues.

APEC Dashboard 2021 is based on five priority pillars identified by the PPWE :
1. Access to capital and assets
2. Access to Markets
3. Skills, Capacity -Building and Health
4. Leadership, Voice and Agency
5. Innovation and Technology

APEC Dashboard 2021 supports gender integration across APEC as a tool to identify projects and areas where gender perspectives can be incorporated. There were notable progress in some areas :

* Access to assets and inheritance has remained high , providing women with income security that could empower them to make economic decisions

* Women’s access to labor markets has also improved with the majority of APEC economies instituting laws that promote gender equality to encourage women to enter and stay in the labor force.

* Women in APEC enjoy freedom of movement, widening economic opportunities to include business prospects and investment projects across the border

* Women can start a business or sign a contract in the same way as men in most APEC economies. This , together with continued high access of domestic companies to international markets are key factors supporting women’s entrepreneurship.

However, there are still issues:

* Need to address absence of laws : ensuring equal pay between women and men for work of equal value and prohibiting credit discrimination on the basis of gender or marital status

* Must enforce laws and address socio-cultural biases

* Need to address policy issues : low representation of women at the highest political decision-making bodies

* Must address data gaps : lack of sex-disaggregated data have created limitations on the analysis

Helen Clark, former Prime Minister of New Zealand said in her speech ” WEF Gender Gap report indicated if the current trend continues, that women in economy will be close in 2288 unless we use this disastrous situation for the great Reset . To put a gender lens and for women to be resilient to future shocks” .

Philippines Head of Delegation Chair Sandra S. Montano -Philippine Commission on Women and Chairperson Monette Iturralde-Hamlin and President Mylene Abiva represented the Women’s Business Council Philippines.

APEC PPWE Theme 2021 hosted by APEC New Zealand: Let us join, work , grow together !