Report launch: Multinational enterprises and the international transmission of gender policies and practices
08 March 2021
It is a pleasure to join you today and discuss the contribution of multinational enterprises to women empowerment and gender equality.
On this day of celebration of women rights, we explore the contribution of the biggest players from the private sector to fostering gender equality in host countries.
Studies show that increases in the opportunities available to women can lead to significant economic and social benefits that range from improvements in children’s education to increases in GDP, higher productivity, return on investments and effective management.
UNCTAD believes that with the right approach international trade and investment has the potential to play an important role in determining gender outcomes in labour markets around the world. For example, inclusive linkages programmes have helped women entrepreneurs entering the global value chain in many developing countries that have enabled them to raise their families’ living standards.
Of course, the current reality facing women is not completely rosy as the risks and the impact on women stemming from international trade and investment is not always positive. There is plenty of evidence that women continue to face challenges, such as difficult working conditions in global supply chain activities in low-income countries.
This report is based on five countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America and it is the first study to present empirical evidence of indirect impacts on local firms and local labour.
It addresses three important questions:
- What is the impact of FDI on gender equality in developing countries?
- How are MNEs influencing host economies gender practices?
- How can we leverage MNEs presence in developing economies to advance the position of women in the workplace?
The findings of the report are encouraging: There is evidence that the presence of multinational enterprises positively impacts gender practices of national enterprises.
For instance, in Bangladesh, the downstream business partners of multinationals in the textile and garment industry had 50 percent more female administrative employees in comparison to other local enterprises.
Another example from Brazil indicates that labour mobility from a multinational to a local industry in the transportation and communications industry has contributed to reducing the wage gap between men and women by one fifth.
The novelty of this study is that it explores the spill over effects of gender norms of multinational enterprises to the host country. For example, in many developing countries, multinational companies have expanded the possibilities for women to enter the formal labour market by enhancing women’s role in business as owners, micro-entrepreneurs in the value chain or as employees. This report shows that multinational enterprises can influence the wider host economy not only with direct impacts but also with transferring best-practice policies towards female-employees.
However, a clear message from this report is that these positive outcomes are not automatic.
Ensuring the inclusion of women’s talents, skills, and experience requires the concerted actions of the business sector, policy makers and the civil society. Creating partnerships with MNEs has the potential to be particularly effective as they work on large scale, have a worldwide reach and thereby have the potential for extensive impact.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
I would like to add that these findings are particularly welcome within the context of designing policy responses to the global pandemic. We know that the economic and social effects of the pandemic disproportionately affect women and risk to reverse decades of progress on gender equality and women’s empowerment.
With this report we contribute to drawing the roadmap for promoting and facilitating private investment that supports the productive and social development of host economies. It also sets a research agenda for the future, provides input for technical assistance work on trade and investment policy, and offers food for thought for our intergovernmental deliberations.
In closing I would like to emphasize that women empowerment and gender equality are central to our work.
For instance, UNCTAD promotes women’s entrepreneurship through its dedicated entrepreneurship policy framework and implementation, the formalization of women-owned business and the promotion of better reporting and disclosure on gender equality.
To ensure that women’s voices and successes are heard, we award the UNCTAD Women in Business Awards and coordinate the Sustainable Stock Exchange initiative to “Ring the Bell for Gender Equality” at stock exchanges around the world.
With this in mind, I wish you a fruitful International Women’s Day.
