Publication database

Through in-depth conversations with 21 successful women social entrepreneurs in Southeast Asia, this report looks at the varying pathways to success, success factors and challenges that are specific to them, and outlines recommendations for business development services to better respond to the needs of women leading early-stage social enterprises in the region. The report also includes profiles of successful women social entrepreneurs in the region.

This report puts forward a comprehensive policy strategy for greater gender equality in the ASEAN region’s rural areas. Following an overview of the evidence about the size of the women labour market in rural areas, it provides a discussion of the policies to reduce the barriers that prevent an equal access by men and women to quality jobs and to starting new businesses. To help the sharing of good practices, the discussion benefits the lessons from a series of selected case studies in ASEAN countries about local programmes to overcome gender barriers. The final chapter provides a review of the gendered implications of the COVID-19 pandemic on agriculture and farming in ASEAN countries and the coping strategies taken by ASEAN governments.

The social bond market has grown rapidly amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. This report explores ways of maximizing the impact of social bonds for sustainable development and of supporting a well-functioning social bond market. It analyzes the impact areas that social bonds have addressed to date and introduces the impact measurement techniques that are in use and under development. It notes the need for common standards of information disclosure and impact measurement.

Following the request of the Government of Cambodia, the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) and the Inclusive Business Action Network (iBAN) have conducted the present landscape study. This study includes a market study of current inclusive business models in Cambodia and an assessment of the enabling environment, and provides recommendations for promoting inclusive businesses in Cambodia.

This report is part of a wider study that aims to understand the impact of gender lens investing on women’s social and economic empowerment. It seeks to build a case for gender lens investing in women-focused enterprises through primary research with over 20 such enterprises and over 150 of their women employees, partners and customers across India, Indonesia, Kenya and Rwanda.

This paper provides insights into how business models can be structured to generate profits to justify investments, while integrating and serving the needs of the poorest citizens. It uses three cases of successful partnerships from Bangladesh and India. The paper aims to generate ideas about the opportunities available to companies working in tandem with local entrepreneurial organisations to build business models that are able to achieve multiple strategic objectives concomitantly.

This report provides an overview of Vietnam’s political economy, the growing importance of the country’s private sector, and the enabling environment for small enterprise development and corporate social responsibility. It illustrates two multi-sector partnerships: the Vietnam Business Links Initiative (VBLI) and the Vietnam Cleaner Production Centre (VNCPC), that both aim to address core obstacles to small enterprise development and pro-poor industrialisation in developing countries.