Regional: Promoting Transformative Gender Equality Agenda in Asia and the Pacific

Agriculture, natural resources and rural development / Agriculture research and application

Education / Technical and vocational education and training

Finance / Finance sector development - Small and medium enterprise finance and leasing

Industry and trade / Small and medium enterprise development

Information and communication technology / ICT strategy and policy, and capacity development

Public sector management / Public administration

The knowledge and support technical assistance (TA) will generate new knowledge and evidence and build capacity of stakeholders in developing member countries (DMCs) to pursue transformative approaches to gender equality that will have a multiplier effect on both Asian Development Bank (ADB) operations and DMC policies and practices. The TA will support accelerating progress in gender equality, which is one of the operational priorities of ADB's Strategy 2030. It will also support the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 5, which is dedicated to gender equality and women's empowerment, in the Asia and Pacific region.

The TA is included in the 2018-2019 work plan of the Gender Equity Thematic Group approved by Management. It will support the implementation of a new Gender Equality Operational Plan 2019-2024.

While Asia and the Pacific have made important progress on gender equality and women's empowerment over recent decades, stubborn gender gaps persist across all socio-economic areas. Female labor force participation rates have declined since 1990; this is the only global region with this negative trend. Girls are still less likely than boys to complete secondary education and pursue higher levels of education. Subject segregation (wherein more boys study science, technology, engineering and mathematics and information technology subjects than girls) contributes to the ongoing feminization of non-technical occupations and concentration of women in less valued and unskilled jobs. Gender wage gaps remain very high across many DMCs and women's access to leadership positions remain among the lowest globally. On average, close to one in three women report an experience of intimate partner violence during their lifetime: this increases to one in two women in some DMCs. Increasing evidence points to the adverse impacts of such gender inequalities on development outcomes and economic growth: McKinsey's estimates that the cost of gender inequalities in Asia and the Pacific is up to $2.2 trillion.

The SDGs' transformative approach to development provides an important opportunity to accelerate progress on gender equality and women's empowerment in Asia and the Pacific. The transformative gender agenda is defined by the ambitious gender targets included in SDG 5 and across other SDGs, which provide strategic entry points for challenging the discriminatory social norms that drive such inequalities. Targets include gender-based violence, unpaid care and domestic work, sexual and reproductive health and rights, women's participation in decision-making and leadership, access to economic and productive resources, access to information and communications technology, and legal/ institutional reforms. For Asia and the Pacific, adopting a transformative approach to gender equality is particularly relevant given the rapidly changing regional context, (e.g., demographic shifts, automation and digital transformations of the economy, and climate change) which threatens gender equality gains if a business-as-usual approach were to continue.

Strategy 2030 offers an avenue for ADB to scale up its support to its DMCs in responding to these persistent and emerging gender challenges. Accelerating progress in gender equality is one of Strategy 2030's seven operational priorities, which includes gender targets for sovereign, as well as, for the first time, for non-sovereign operations. Building on its strong track record of innovation in gender equality, ADB is also increasing its attention to SDG 5's transformative gender agenda under Strategy 2030 and the Gender Equality Operational Plan 2019-2024. However, limited evidence and resources on 'what works' to operationalize the transformative gender agenda is restricting operational opportunities. Stronger innovation, knowledge and evidence that can demonstrate the development benefits of transformative gender approaches are needed to ensure ADB can better support its DMCs in achieving SDG 5 by 2030.

Complementing this approach will be scaling up the capacity development of executing agencies (EAs) and implementing agencies (IAs) in DMCs to deliver gender-inclusive and transformative projects. Promoting a knowledge-action loop through demonstration effects, capacity development and knowledge sharing events that are both cross-regional and cross-sectoral will foster more opportunities to pursue and mainstream transformative gender agenda approaches across a range of development areas at the country and regional levels.

SDG 5-related gender equality results in ADB operations improved in DMCs.

Strategy 2030 gender targets supported.

Evidence and knowledge on the transformative gender agenda in operations strengthened

Gender knowledge and capacity of DMCs enhanced

Women's entrepreneurship in DMCs fostered

Under Output 1, the TA has engaged and mobilized national and international consultants to support the subprojects in Pakistan and Tonga, including the TA Coordinator based at ADB HQ. Recruitment process is ongoing for other subprojects.

The subproject in Bhutan launched the Study Report on Valuation of Unpaid Care Work in Bhutan on 11 October 2019. Dissemination workshops on the report culminated on 30 Dec 2019.

Additional consultants for the subprojects in Pakistan and private sector will be engaged in Q2 2020. By end of Q3, the TA will commence its support to WSMEs in Viet Nam through digital technologies that will enhance their financial literacy.

Under Output 2, the first country rollout of the regional Asia Women Leaders Program (AWLP) including training of master trainers program was conducted on 25-28 March 2019 in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. The AWLP targets senior women government officials who are in positions to influence their countries public finance, policies, and services, and provides leadership capacity development to strengthen their knowledge, skills, networks, and confidence. In Cambodia, Ministry of Women's Affairs has taken over the program for the country-rollover, involving 18 sectoral ministries.

In November 2019, ADB participated in the Global Gender Summit in Kigali organized by the Multilateral Development Banks' Working Group on Gender Equality, and hosted by the African Development Bank and the Government of Rwanda, to share best practices on new gender mainstreaming innovations in the infrastructure sector.

The TA has recruited a Gender and Development Capacity Building Specialist in Q1 2020 to support activities planned for 2020-2021, including Gender Forum, country-based AWLP, Gender Specialists' Annual Consultation Workshop. Online training and updated gender Thematic Group knowledge products will also be rolled out in 2020 with the support of the consultant.

Engagement of consulting firms is foreseen in Q3 for the 1) partnership project with UN Women on regional benchmarking study on gender-responsive procurement, and 2) addressing sexual exploitation abuse and harassment in ADB operations.

In 2020, the TA will also implement subprojects in South Asia and Southeast Asia which will focus on women's participation and political leadership in decision making within the local governance systems and addressing issues of women's economic empowerment and women's resilience to external shocks in the context of climate change and urban governance.

A women's entrepreneurship program supported by J.P. Morgan in the Philippines commenced activities with a technical workshop jointly organized with the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas. The technical workshop brought together government agencies, financial institutions, and women's business groups on 12 December 2019 to discuss the methodologies of sex-disaggregated nation-wide surveys on micro-, small-, and medium-sized enterprises.

In Indonesia, the national strategy for financial inclusion of women which includes targets and action plans for women-owned businesses and other areas of women's financial inclusion was virtually launched on 9 June 2020.

An advisory committee virtual meeting among representatives from the government, development agencies and women's business groups is planned for Q3 2020, to share experiences and learnings, set future directions for women's entrepreneurship in Asia, promote opportunities and coordination within the region.

The Women Accelerating Vibrant Enterprises in Southeast Asia and the Pacific (WAVES) program financed by the Women Entrepreneurs Finance Initiative in Viet Nam has commenced consultant recruitment. A firm was engaged in June 2020 to support capacity development of financial institutions in serving WSMEs and to provide SME policy support. Engagement of consultants to conduct a randomized control trial on incentives for banks to lend to WSMEs and provide training and acceleration services for WSME's is underway.