National Assessment of Women's Entrepreneurship Development in Myanmar

This report is the result of collaborative effort between SPF and the International Labour Organization(ILO) to articulate the issues affecting women entrepreneurs in Myanmar. It outlines policy recommendations based on the ILO’s Women’s Entrepreneurship Development (WED) assessment methodology, informed by a review of six framework conditions.

The role of women in Myanmar in the social and economic spheres is becoming increasingly significant. Despite the strong economic growth experienced in the country in the last 5 years, women in Myanmar are still not fully participating in the formal labour market due to cultural, financial, systemic, political and social constraints. Myanmar has significant potential to benefit from its ‘gender dividend’ through supporting women entrepreneurship, and promoting gender equality and non-discrimination in the workplaces. Promoting and supporting women’s economic empowerment through women’s entrepreneurship has been at the core of SPF’s activities since 2017 and this study provides us with practical guidance for implementing projects which reflect the local needs.

The report presents the findings from a literature review, interviews with key informants from 23 organizations, three focus groups with 18 women entrepreneurs and face-to-face questionnaire surveys with 208 women entrepreneurs. The report articulates the major challenges and policy recommendations to improve the conditions that affect the establishment and growth of women-led enterprises, including access to resources and support. Initial findings of the report were validated by stakeholders to reflect the voices of women entrepreneurs and their concerns.

The study concluded that the strongest WED framework condition in Myanmar is its ‘gender-sensitive legal and regulatory system’ and the weakest WED framework conditions are an ‘effective policy leadership and coordination for the promotion of WED’, ‘access to gender sensitive financial services’ and ‘access to market and technology’.

The report was launched at the ILO's Fourth National Stakeholders Forum 'Implementing the decent work agenda and labour law reform' which was held on 24th February, 2020 in Naypyidaw, Myanmar.

The presentation slides used for the launch event of the report are available here.