Maximising impact for sustainable development: how core business activities can achieve a multiplier effect through equal opportunity sourcing from women owned businesses.

In this workshop, participants will learn how ICT Ministries and ICT companies can have a greater impact on sustainable development through supplier diversity programmes.  How government entities and companies spend their procurement budgets, whether on infrastructure, goods and/or services is a key opportunity to positively impact their bottom lines as well as provide a key source of economic empowerment to other businesses. Across the world, women owned businesses secure a disproportionately low share of procurement contracts.  However, an increasing number of governments and businesses, including in the tech sector, are realizing this core business opportunity to contribute to sustainable development through introducing equal opportunity measures to their procurement programmes, and striving to do business with a wider array of suppliers, including those owned and managed by women and minorities.  

This workshop will demonstrate how some governments and companies are already improving the effectiveness and impact of their procurement activities by sourcing from women owned businesses and present tips for how other governments and tech companies can adopt and implement such policies and practices themselves.

The workshop is being conducted jointly by ITU, ITC, UN Women and We Connect International in support of EQUALS.