The Gender-Inclusive Care Entrepreneurship Ecosystem Program (GICEEP) has been launched in the Asia-Pacific region, to help women turn the persistent and disproportionate responsibility for unpaid care work into business opportunities and pathways towards full economic participation. Women-led business and women-benefitting enterprises in the care economy are encouraged to apply and join a 10-month business acceleration programme.

The programme is funded by Canada’s International Development Research Centre (IDRC) and Visa Foundation, and implemented in partnership with Bopinc, UN Women Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific, and the Swiss Association For Entrepreneurship In Emerging Markets (SAFEEM) and will be working with governments, investors, employers and other support organizations.

The wife of CPP/ANC Standard Bearer, Mrs Teresa Cummings, has stressed the need for women’s economic empowerment and to equip girls with vocational skills that will make them productive citizens.

The UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) is currently reaching out to states to develop and implement comprehensive policies to better protect indigenous women and girls’ human rights.