WEDGE - Women Entrepreneurship Development and Gender Equality

The Women’s Entrepreneurship Development and Gender Equality (WEDGE) project started implementing its activities in Zambia in 2001. The project has now developed into a programme, the International Labour Organization- Irish Aid (ILO-IA) Partnership Programme with three Components. In phase one of the programme, (2002-2004), WEDGE concentrated on women’s entrepreneurship development. The second phase (2005-2007) of the programme integrated three components of the ILO-IA Partnership Programme in its objectives and activities namely;

• Women’s Entrepreneurship Development and Gender Equality (WEDGE),
• Developing Entrepreneurship among Women with Disabilities (DEWED), and
• Promoting the Employability and Employment of people with disabilities through effective Legislation (PEPDEL).

The immediate objectives of the ILO-IA Partnership Programme are as follows;

• Entrepreneurship Development - Women Entrepreneurs (WEs) with and without disabilities and women living with HIV/AIDS, have increased to more equitable environment as well as Business Development Services (BDS) including Basic Business Skills (BBS) and entrepreneurship tool such as Gender and Entrepreneurship Together: GET Ahead for Women Enterprise and Improve Your Business (IYB) training.
• Financial Services - WEs including those with disabilities and women living with HIV/AIDS have increased access to financial services and related support services, including micro-finance, savings and credit services.
• Market Access - WEs including those with disabilities and women living with HIV/ AIDS have increased market access and developed marketable technical skills.
• Skills Training - WEs including those with disabilities, women living with HIV/AIDS and laid off women workers have increased access to both formal and non-formal technical vocational skills training opportunities.
• Stronger Associations - Representatives associations of WEs and persons with disabilities in Zambia have increased capacity to provide voice, support and enterprise development services to their members and
• Disability Legislation - Government officials, social partners, Zambia Agency for People with Disabilities (ZAPD) and other relevant stakeholders in Zambia have increased capacity to promote, individually and collaboratively the employability and employment of self employment of persons with disabilities through effective legislation, policies and programmes.

The project has continued promoting women’s entrepreneurship and supporting women entrepreneurs creating decent employment, achieving women’s empowerment and gender equality, and working towards poverty reduction. The overriding aim of the project is building the capacity of local partners in such a way that the ILO’s approaches and tools in women’s entrepreneurship are embedded and ongoing.

Building on the tools and methodologies developed over the past six years, the project is working with national governments, constituents and partner agencies to remove the obstacles that women face in starting and growing their businesses. There is emphasis on building the capacity of constituents and partners carrying out research, delivering training, and lobbying government on behalf of the interests of women entrepreneurs.

The WEDGE team has been working closely with ILO’s skills and Employability Department to mainstream disability throughout its interventions. The project has liaised with ILO/AIDS to mainstream HIV/AIDS throughout its activities, with the Social Finance programme in its work on microfinance and with the ILO International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour (ILO IPEC).

The key partners in Zambia are the Gender in Development Division (GIDD), the Ministry of Labour and Social Security (MLSS), the Ministry of Commerce, Trade and Industry (MCTI) and the Ministry of Community Development and Social Services (MCDSS). To a certain extent the ILO WEDGE programme has been mainstreamed into on-going initiatives of these ministries. The programme is managed by a Programme Adivisory Committee (PAC) with representatives of the Zambia Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU), the Community for Human Development (CHD), the Zambia Federation of Employers (ZFE), the Women Entrepreneurs Development Association of Zambia (WEDAZ), the Zambia Federation for Associations of Women in Business (ZFAWIB), the Small Enterprises Development Board (SEDB), the Zambia National Association of Disabled Women (ZNADWO), the Zambian Agency for People with Disabilities (ZAPD) and the Association for Micro Finance Institutions of Zambia (AMIZ).

The main outcomes of the Women’s Entrepreneurship Development and Gender Equality (WEDGE) project include three of the following;

• An improved enabling environment for women entrepreneurship development
• Improved capacity of business development service providers to deliver services to women entrepreneurs
• Improved Women entrepreneurs’ income-generating capacity, productivity and competitiveness.

The Programme has recorded tremendous successes and its beneficiaries are; Women entrepreneurs in urban, peri-urban and rural areas, women entrepreneurs with and without disabilities as well as women living with HIV/AIDS and their organizations, policy makers, microfinance providers and (MSE) and business development service (BDS) providers.