How can MENA governments find new sources of growth and boost jobs and skills for young people and women? What needs to be done to encourage more women to enter the workforce and contribute to entrepreneurial activity? What role can governments and investors play in developing local workforce skills and employability for youth and women?

During this annual meeting of the OECD-MENA Women’s Business Forum, representatives of the businesswomen’s community and governments from the MENA region gave their views on the impact of the current economic and political context on women’s economic opportunities. In light of this discussion, participants decided on the future activities of the Women’s Business Forum to address barriers to women’s economic opportunity. This will include projects to monitor and improve knowledge on entrepreneurs’ access to financing and business development services. The Women’s Business Forum will also work on developing synergies and building partnerships with local, regional and international organisations involved in women’s economic empowerment.

Following a morning session dedicated specifically to the Women’s Business Forum’s activities, an open afternoon session discussed public and private sector actions to promote jobs and skills for youth and women.

In an effort to further mainstream women’s issues in the broader policy dialogue on investment and governance reforms, the conclusions of this event were fed into the Steering Group meeting of the MENA-OECD Initiative on Governance and Investment for Development on 22 November 2012.

MEETING DOCUMENTS

Agenda English | French | Arabic

Conclusions English | French | Arabic 

CONTACT

Any questions relating to this meeting should be addressed to mena.investment@oecd.org.