The document summarizes the Commonwealth Businesswomen (CBW) initiative, which aims to economically empower women across the 53 countries of the Commonwealth. It discusses CBW's agenda and focus on increasing women's representation in business leadership and decision-making roles, developing gender-based procurement programs, and improving access to finance and skills for women. The summary also outlines CBW's engagement with stakeholders, achievements since 2011 including establishing the CBW BusinessXchange platform, and next steps like the proposed Commonwealth Businesswomen Academy.

1. Commonwealth Businesswomen (CBW)
Strengthening the Commonwealth. Building Businesses. Advancing Women.
53 Countries. One Platform.
Commonwealth Businesswomen
(CBW) – one billion women working
together for women’s economic
empowerment
Arif Zaman, Commonwealth Business Council and
Commonwealth Businesswomen (CBW)
XXVIII BPW International Congress, 23-27 May 2014
Jeju Island, Republic of Korea

2. agenda
• framework and focus (CBW Agenda for Women’s
Economic Empowerment)
• The Call to Action at 10th Women’s Affairs Ministerial
Meeting, Dhaka, Bangladesh June 2013 by President
Freda Miriklis
• recommendations and actions
• achievements
• next steps (including key initiatives)
Commonwealth Businesswomen (CBW)
Strengthening the Commonwealth. Building Businesses. Advancing Women.
53 Countries. One Platform.

3. What the CBW relationship is focussing on, based
on solid recent evidence, supported by extensive
engagement and driven by unique access to
policy-makers and key stakeholders – the private
sector and women in business - is clear and
simple:
that the economic empowerment of women can
be the engine to transform and take forward
economies across the Commonwealth and
beyond.
remember Victor Hugo:
‘nothing is as powerful as an idea
whose time has come’
Commonwealth Businesswomen (CBW)
Strengthening the Commonwealth. Building Businesses. Advancing Women.
53 Countries. One Platform.

4. Commonwealth – key points
• 53 countries, 6 continents and a third of the world’s population - and at least a billion
women
• 60% of the Commonwealth’s citizens are under 30 years of age
• 20% of world trade and growing with many of the fastest growing economies in the
world today
• the largest economies/populations: Australia, Pakistan, Canada, Kenya, India, Malaysia,
Nigeria, Bangladesh, Singapore, South Africa, UK
• advantages of commonalities in language, education, professional training and legal and
financial institutions still remain and estimated to add up to a 15% cost advantage over
business with countries outside the Commonwealth
• 14 Least Developed countries (LDCs), 31 small states, 18 Sub-Saharan African, 5
South Asian regional members, 10 Caribbean and 11 Pacific island states and 2.2
billion people – including 43% of the poorest women
• Commonwealth Business Forum: $14bn of deals transacted in 72 hrs with women
participating up from 8% in Perth in 2011 to 19% in Colombo in 2013
Commonwealth Businesswomen (CBW)
Strengthening the Commonwealth. Building Businesses. Advancing Women.
53 Countries. One Platform.

5. CBC, partners and engagement
• CBW is an initiative from Pakistan BPW President Dr.
Salima Ahmed within weeks of XXVIII Congress at
Helsinki and in the lead-up to CHOGM in Perth and
direct input from immediate past and first female
Commonwealth Chairs-in-Office (Australian and
Trinidad and Tobago PMs - also first women PMs)
• Commonwealth Business Council
• International Federation of Business and
Professional Women (BPW International)
• British Association of Women Entrepreneurs (BAWE)
• engagement: 53 countries in 23 months in Africa, the
Caribbean, Europe and Asia since CHOGM in 2011
Commonwealth Businesswomen (CBW)
Strengthening the Commonwealth. Building Businesses. Advancing Women.
53 Countries. One Platform.

6. CBW Agenda for Women’s Economic Empowerment
• Encouraging more women on Boards and in senior
decision-making roles
 UN Women's Empowerment Principle1: Establish high-
level corporate leadership for gender equality
 Principle 7: Measure and publicly report on progress to
achieve gender equality
• development of gender based procurement
programmes and access to supply chains
 Principle 5: Implement enterprise development, supply
chain and marketing practices that empower women
• access to finance and skills
 Principle 4: Promote education, training and professional
development for women
Commonwealth Businesswomen (CBW)
Strengthening the Commonwealth. Building Businesses. Advancing Women.
53 Countries. One Platform.

7. Procurement and access to Global Value Chains
prepared for and positioned to bid for and secure private sector sector and govt. contracts
Access to finance and skills
access to the necessary capital
at the right time with the
required skills set to build
businesses
Women on
Commonwealth Boards
leveraging diversity to
improve the quality of
decision-making to grow
CBW: a holistic, coherent and mutually supportive approach
Underpinned by the 5 Ps framework: Potential - Progression - Platform – Procurement - Policy

8. Call to Action
from President Freda Miriklis in her keynote address in a
half day session in front of Women’s Affairs Ministers
Meeting (10WAMM) from 30 countries, Dhaka, June 2013
• implementation of the recommendations in CBC-ACCA
report
• active participation by developing countries in the
International Trade Centre’s (ITC) Global Platform for
Action on Sourcing from Women Vendors and by all
countries in the Commonwealth Business Forum in
November 2013
• a push for women’s economic empowerment to be at the
heart of the post 2015 development agenda
Commonwealth Businesswomen (CBW)
Strengthening the Commonwealth. Building Businesses. Advancing Women.
53 Countries. One Platform.

9. Outcomes and
recommendations

10. Recommendations
and actions
Commonwealth Businesswomen (CBW)
Strengthening the Commonwealth. Building Businesses. Advancing Women.
53 Countries. One Platform.

11. Women on Boards and
in senior decision-making roles
1. Create a database of women who are board-ready or
have board potential
2. Support sponsoring initiatives by working collaboratively
across different sectors
3. Build a research monitor across the Commonwealth
4. Raise career and leadership aspirations throughout
education curricula
5. Create a media strategy which demonstrates the impact
of women in senior leadership positions
6. Share best practice across the Commonwealth
http://www.accaglobal.com/content/dam/acca/global/PDF-
technical/human-capital/pol-tp-ptwto.pdf
Commonwealth Businesswomen (CBW)
Strengthening the Commonwealth. Building Businesses. Advancing Women.
53 Countries. One Platform.

12. Procurement
1. Women-owned businesses from developing Commonwealth countries should
promote and participate in ITC’s Global Platform for Action on Sourcing from
Women Vendors, attend the annual Women Vendors Exhibition and Forum in
Rwanda in 2014 and secure direct contracts with major companies
2. Encourage companies to adopt a Supplier Diversity Program which includes an
emphasis on buying from women owned businesses modelled on Supplier Diversity
and Inclusion Code of Conduct launched in 2013
3. Encourage governments at all levels and in all countries to implement
preferential procurement policies in favour of women-owned businesses and
to set targets for procurement from women-owned businesses;
4. Emphasise to women owned businesses (where women own more than 51%) that
getting certified as a women owned business will increase their exposure to
public and private buyers who embrace supplier diversity
5. Develop opportunities for women-owned businesses to procure from the
Commonwealth Games in 2014 and 2018
6. Support and develop the CBW BusinessxChange trading platform, learning
space and community environment
Commonwealth Businesswomen (CBW)
Strengthening the Commonwealth. Building Businesses. Advancing Women.
53Countries. One Platform.

13. Access to finance and skills
• The Commonwealth Businesswomen Academy should be
established to support, train and mentor women from
start-up through to exit, including a CBW School for Start-
Ups focussing on entrepreneurship capacity-building
• A public-private partnership should be established to
provide financing for women to grow their businesses
such as a dedicated Growth Fund
Commonwealth Businesswomen (CBW)
Strengthening the Commonwealth. Building Businesses. Advancing Women.
53 Countries. One Platform.

14. Achievements since Perth CHOGM in 2011
1. development of the ‘CBW Agenda for Women’s Economic
Empowerment’ with extensive input from businesswomen,
the private sector and ;policy-makers across the
Commonwealth (encouraging more women on Boards and
in senior decision-making roles; development of gender
based procurement programmes and access to supply
chains; and access to finance and skills)
2. robust research and empirical evidence to support the
above eg. (a) joint report with ACCA on Women in
Leadership and (b) by the Commonwealth Secretariat on
procurement, gender and trade
3. engagement with key stakeholders at major
Commonwealth fora at 10WAMM and CHOGM in 2013
and at the UN during CSW58
Commonwealth Businesswomen (CBW)
Strengthening the Commonwealth. Building Businesses. Advancing Women.
53 Countries. One Platform.

15. 4. development of the first public-private partnership for
women’s economic empowerment in the Commonwealth
supported by a plan of implementation to 2016 and a
roadmap to 2020 as an outcome from a joint CBC-
Commonwealth Secretariat session during the CHOGM
Business Forum, Colombo, November 2013
5. development of the CBW BusinessXchange – the world’s
first trading platform, learning space and community
environment for women in business
6. Launch of CBW web site (www.cwbusinesswomen.org)
and BusinessXchange platform at the NWM during
CSW58 (www.businessxchange.co.uk/commonwealth)
7. Joined the Commonwealth Governance body on Gender
with Govts and eg. Commonwealth Parliamentary Assoc.
Commonwealth Businesswomen (CBW)
Strengthening the Commonwealth. Building Businesses. Advancing Women.
53 Countries. One Platform.
Achievements since Perth CHOGM in 2011

16. CBW BusinessXchange
• Collaborate and network with like-minded businesses
• Promote their business to other members and the wider business community
• Post short videos and elevator pitches about their business
• Post case studies and good news stories for promotion through PR channels
• Register for and receive relevant Tender alerts
• Post Tenders and other opportunities for businesses to respond to
• Post Events for others to consider attending
• Book onto events organised by business network organisations/companies
• Benefit from Group buying offers
• Promote special offers to other businesses registered on the site
• Access Advice, Guidance and information from sites
• Refer to a feedback based rating system so that businesses can relate
experiences about suppliers, thereby enabling others to collaborate / buy in
confidence
• Utilise a direct link to social media including LinkedIn, Twitter etc. and
additional information via blogs and knowledge sharing posts
Commonwealth Businesswomen (CBW)
Strengthening the Commonwealth. Building Businesses. Advancing Women.
53 Countries. One Platform.

17. Platform
Potential
Procurement
Policy
Progression
Global Board Ready Women-Women
Corporate Directors-AESC Database
collaboration working with the
Commonwealth Secretariat & CBC
TRADE
TRAINING
CBW BusinessXchange platform
working with UN Development
Business, Govts, technology
companies and venture capital
CBW Academy focussing on
procurement, export readiness,
entrepreneurship and Board potential
TALENT
CBW: providing women in business in the Commonwealth with a roadmap
and toolkit of advice and skills for their business journey
1st Commonwealth
Women
Entrepreneur
Awards (01 August
2014 during the XX
Commonwealth
Games in Glasgow)
working with ITC and others to bring
more Commonwealth corporates
(especially from Asia and Africa) and
Govts. as buyers and women from
Commonwealth developing countries
as suppliers into the Global Platform
for Action on Sourcing from Women
Vendors in Rwanda in 2014 and
beyond
Commonwealth Businesswomen (CBW)
Strengthening the Commonwealth. Building Businesses. Advancing Women.
53 Countries. One Platform.

18. The
message
is getting
through
10WAMM:
front pg
G8: back
pg
Daily Star,
19/07/13

19. Arif Zaman
Adviser, South Asia and Corporate Governance and
Chair of Commonwealth Businesswomen
Commonwealth Business Council
18 Pall Mall, London SW1Y 5LU, UK
T: + 44 (0)7956 456335
Skype: s.arif.zaman
E: arif.zaman@cbcglobal.org
Commonwealth Businesswomen (CBW)
Strengthening the Commonwealth. Building Businesses. Advancing Women.
53 Countries. One Platform.