Invitation to join in the development of ISO/IWA 34 Definition of a “Woman‐Owned Business” and guidance on its use
National initiatives across the world have developed several definitions of the “women’s business enterprise,” and utilize this definition at its own discretion in their business environment.
Creating a definition of a woman‐owned business and guidance on its use will allow for clear and
targeted efforts in advancing women’s economic empowerment and will contribute to the overall
achievement of the 2030 Global Goals for Sustainable Development, including several gender - specific targets under SDG 5 on Gender Equality.
Swedish Institute for Standards, SIS and International Trade Centre (ITC) recognized the necessity to have the unique, globally accepted definition of a “woman-owned business”. ITC and SIS have consulted with women entrepreneurs and associations, and with thought leaders working in the area of women's economic empowerment to understand better the issues. These consultations have confirmed the need and demand for this work to develop an IWA document.
About the proposers of this IWA
The International Trade Centre (ITC) is a joint agency of the United Nations and World Trade Organization based in Geneva. ITC’s mission is to enable small business export success in developing and transition‐economy countries, by providing, with partners, sustainable and inclusive development solutions to the private sector, trade support institutions (TSIs) and policymakers. ITC will chair the IWA process and provide the expertise on the subject matter needed in the leadership team.
The Swedish Institute for Standards, SIS, is the Swedish member of ISO. SIS will facilitate the standards development process as a neutral partner.
What is IWA?
An IWA is a type of document that is developed with direct participation of stakeholders outside the traditional ISO country representation system to enable market players to negotiate in an “open workshop” environment.
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ISS invites you in the development of ISO/IWA 34**
The Institute for Standardization of Serbia (ISS) would like to inform you that the Swedish Institute for Standards (SIS) and the International Trade Centre (ITC) invite all interested stakeholders to join the development of an ISO International Workshop Agreement (IWA) on the definition of a „woman-owned business“ and guidance on its use.
By developing a commonly agreed upon definition of a woman‐owned business, the IWA proposal aims to lower entry barriers for women business owners to public and private procurement opportunities, and increase their access to capacity‐building programmes, incentives schemes, and certification programmes. The development of an IWA on a woman‐owned business may spur a broader discussion and additional efforts towards further standardization work on gender equality and related topics.
The purpose of ISO/IWA 34 is to provide a definition of a woman‐owned business and guidance to businesses, statistical agencies, governments and international initiatives on how the definition can be used. Over time, a standard definition will facilitate the collection of internationally comparable data on women’s entrepreneurship and the impact on local and national economies.
Due to Covid‐19, the two main meetings scheduled to be held on 14‐16 October and 14‐16 December will be organized as on-line workshops, and complemented by shorter web meetings and commenting via correspondence.
Registration
To register for participation in this IWA process, please use the following link:
https://survs.com/survey/44ohf75ilv
If you wish to attend the first workshop (14th‐16th October), then the deadline to register is September 30th 2020.
Participation is free of charge. (Please note that there are preparatory activities before this, the time schedule below gives further details.)
