The document proposes the W+ Standard and Program, which would create a standard to measure positive impacts on women's empowerment from projects supported by climate change and development programs. It would quantify and verify benefits to women across six domains: time, income/assets, health, education/knowledge, leadership, and food security. Certified projects would be issued W+ Units that could then be sold to corporate, institutional, or individual buyers interested in measuring their social impacts. The proposal seeks funding to develop the standard and methodology further, establish an administrative team, and launch an initial W+ Capacity Fund to support pilot projects generating W+ Units for prospective buyers to purchase.

1. W+™
Program
Proposal
A WOCAN Initiative
to Accelerate
Investments in
Women
WOCAN October 2014

2. October 2014
1
W+™ Program Proposal
Table of Contents Page
The WOCAN W+ Standard and Program 2
The Woman Effect: Funding Women’s Empowerment 3
Introduction to WOCAN 4
The Issue and the Response 5
A New Revenue Stream for Women 6
Leveraging the Global Carbon Market Experience 7
W+ Performance Measures 8
The Demand for W+ Units 9
W+ Standard™: Governance and Operational Design 10
Scope of Work 11
W+ Team 12
4W+ Capacity Fund 14-15
Workflow of W+ Capacity Fund 16
Six W+ Standard™ Domains 18
Time 18
Income and Assets 19
Education and Knowledge 20
Health 21
Food Security 22
Leadership 23
Pipeline of 8 Sample Projects for W+ Standard 24

3. October 2014
2
The WOCAN W+ Standard and Program
To accelerate women’s empowerment, WOCAN1 has created W+: the world’s first
standard to measure positive impacts to women’s social and economic
empowerment from projects supported by climate change and international
development programs, and products and services (and their supply chains) that
improve women’s lives. When incorporated into project design and execution,
the W+™ provides measurable, verifiable benefits to women, resulting in
marketable W+ Units for sale to corporate, institutional or individual buyers
interested in robust measurement of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and
development investments. Rigorous methods and processes ensure buyers that
W+ certified Units will be protected from false or inflated claims, and can
confidently measure the beneficial impacts of their investments.
WOCAN has supported the development of the W+ Standard through its own core
funding resources, investing more than USD $250,000 in standard and method
development, and field testing within pilot projects. Some additional funds have
been secured for core funding, but more is needed for method development and
marketing and communications.
The W+ Capacity Fund is being established to build broad external and internal
institutional capacity and private sector procurement demand for W+ Units
through projects demonstrating the viability of the W+™ as means to empower
women and serve the CSR interests of W+ Unit buyers. The Fund achieves this
objective by pooling contributions (financial commitments) of participants to
forward-purchase W+ Units from eligible projects. Sample projects are listed on
Page 22. W+ units will be issued from those projects that can be verified to have
included women’s benefits by quantifying and assigning a financial value to them.
W+ Units have now been issued from a Pilot Project measuring time- savings for
women using biogas digesters in Nepal. Over 1.2 million verified W+ Time Units
were originated, demonstrating a savings of 2.2 hours/per for each woman
biogas user. These units will be available for sale in early November 2014.
At this time, WOCAN is seeking USD $500,000 to support the establishment
of administrative and operations functions and methodology development,
and USD 4.5 million to support the Fund.

4. October 2014
3
The Woman Effect: Funding Women’s Empowerment
Governments, development agencies, corporations and investors are increasingly
funding women’s empowerment and gender equality, based on human rights for
women and evidence of improved project outcomes in
developing country communities. Studies by Goldman Sachs
and others point to the potential increases in GDP if women
had equal access to employment and credit. “Gender lens
investing” is gaining popularity as a way to use capital to
deliver financial return and improve the lives of women and
their communities.2
However, what is lacking for many is a robust means of measuring these
outcomes in a way that can be simply communicated. At this time, certification
schemes and standards widely used by companies, carbon projects, impact
investors and others to indicate their ‘good corporate citizenship’ or “do no
harm” do not quantify benefits or outcomes to women of project communities;
many refer only to gender and women in relation to their workplaces or social
safeguards. The W+ aims for a more pro-active approach to tackle the issue, by
incentivizing projects and companies to deliver new resources to women of
affected communities, to address both their practical and strategic interests.
The W+ offers a unique mechanism to value women’s
contributions to unpaid care work, climate change and
development initiatives and spur their empowerment
by sharing revenues from the sales of W+ units with
women and their groups.
2 Kaplan, S. and J. Vanderbrug, The Rise of Gender Capitalism. Stanford Social Innovation
Review, Fall 20014.

5. October 2014
4
WOCAN and the W+ Standard: Ensuring Benefits to Women
Introduction to WOCAN:
• Women Organizing for Change in Agriculture and Natural Resource
Management - A women-led US-registered NGO founded in 2004
• Global membership network of over 1000 women and men in 105
countries
• Supported by diverse donors with core support from Norway
• Mission: to build women’s leadership in agriculture and natural resource
management through organizational and individual transformation.
• Focus on:
– women’s leadership
– capacity building for gender equality within agriculture and
environment organizations
– responses to climate change and food security challenges
• NEW W+ program expands women’s empowerment through a Results
Based Approach to:
– increase benefits and impacts for women and their groups
– build capacities of organizations to deliver these benefits
 www.wocan.org and www.wplus.org

6. October 2014
5
The Issue and the Response
There is a response: Governments, development agencies, corporations and
investors are increasingly funding women’s empowerment/gender equality,
based on women’s rights and empirical evidence of improved project outcomes.
The W+ Standard Enables a Response –
The W+™ is a unique certification label for W+ Units; quantified, verified
social/economic/environmental benefits are created through:
- Renewable energy technologies
- Time and labor saving devices
- Forest and agriculture activities
- Employment opportunities
- Community development programs
The W+™ quantifies and verifies
benefits to women in 6 domains:
Time
Income & Assets
Health
Education & Knowledge
Leadership
Food Security

7. October 2014
6
W+ provides a new revenue stream to women
Once projects are defined and underway, their outcomes will be monitored and
measured and verified by an external auditor that has been approved by WOCAN.
Organizations/projects that have obtained satisfactory results will be issued W+
certificates for a specific number of units, which can then be sold to corporations,
investors and individual buyers.
The sale of W+ units will provide a new revenue stream to women and their
groups through benefit sharing mechanisms required by the Standard. The
appropriate mechanism will be designed together with the women’s groups in a
transparent and collaborative manner, specific to each context, to assure that
direct shares of the revenues from unit sales reach the hands of the women
beneficiaries.
Many studies have shown that when women are provided the means and
opportunity to improve their well being, their families and communities benefit.
By directing revenues back to women in project communities, who then
themselves determine how to use these, the W+ will provided a much-needed
source of cash for women’s collective actions to use as they see best fit to reduce
poverty, drudgery and food insecurity, improve health and education, and
provide opportunities for women’s leadership in the community.

8. October 2014
7
Voluntary Carbon Market as a Model for Social Capital
Market
Using a Successful Model –
Voluntary Carbon Markets
W+ Standard Units and a Social
Capital Market
The carbon market rewards
investors and project developers
producing “environmental capital”.
A market for economic, social and
environmental benefits producing “social
capital” valuing women’s contributions.
Carbon emission reductions benefit
the global climate.
Growth of women’s empowerment enables
virtuous cycles of social, economic and
environmental improvements for women,
households and communities.
A “voluntary” market for carbon
reductions (offsets) provides
incentive and compensation to
encourage reduction activities.
A voluntary market for social capital provides
incentives and compensation to encourage
women’s empowerment activities of projects
and companies.
Carbon markets require rigorous
quantification and verification of
emissions reductions claims
A social capital market created through the
W+ Standard will use rigorous quantification
and verification of women’s empowerment
claims.
A voluntary carbon market enables
organizations to address their
climate impacts with credibility.
The voluntary social capital market created
through the W+ Standard enables
corporations and organizations to implement
their Corporate Social Responsibility and
development goals with credibility.

9. October 2014
8
W+ Performance Measures
Domain
Example
Outcome
Example Indicator Example Activity Example Measure
Income
and Assets
Increased
community
funds under
women’s
control.
Increase in Assets
(land, trees,
equipment, and
livestock).
Support development of
women’s savings and
loan initiatives (ex.
through seed funds).
Bank accounts in
women’s name.
Time Improved
well being
and
increased
productivity.
Increased
discretionary time.
Increased sharing of
women’s work.
Provision of time saving
technologies and tools.
Numbers of hours/day
saved from fuel wood
collection and spent on
other activities.
Education
and
Knowledge
Increased
knowledge
and skills.
Increased access to
literacy/numeracy,
business skills, and
agriculture and health
skills.
Classes or training and
site visits to see
successful activities of
others.
Records of classes,
certificates of completion,
attendees list, etc.
Leadership Increased
decision
making roles
for women.
Increased
representation in
governance bodies.
Establish quotas for
representation of women
in governance bodies.
Number of women
members, and women’s
groups.
Food
Security
Increased
food security
(decrease
under and
malnutrition).
Decrease in period of
Food insecurity
(determined locally).
Provision of technical
inputs (including seeds,
tools, storage bins,
irrigation, etc.).
Amount of food in
storage; amount of food
purchased from daily
wage payments.
Health Improved
health.
Improved air, water
quality.
Installation of improved
services (e.g. cook
stoves, methane
digesters).
Change in indoor air
quality.
Change in GI diseases.

10. October 2014
9
The Demand for W+ Units
W+™ promotes demand for W+ units in the context of Gender Lens Investing,
international development assistance (ODA) budgets, United Nations Millennium
Development & post 2015 Sustainability Development Goals, gender-related CSR
commitments and women-inclusive businesses and “women-branding”:
• Beyond philanthropy there is a rise in “Gender Capitalism” to create
financial and social impact, driven by donors investing with a gender lens
to increase women’s access to capital, promote workplace equity, and
create products and services that improve the lives of women and girls.
• Gender lens investors aim to bridge the credit gap of $320 billion for
women
 New study commissioned by Women Moving Millions shows North
American women have capacity to give $230 billion annually. This
expansion of giving potential is due to growth in women’s wealth,
presenting tremendous opportunity to transform the lives of women.
• International Finance Corporation (IFC) has committed over $175 million
in capital to invest in women’s businesses through a Women’s Bond
• Global ODA earmarked for gender activities is USD $20 billion
• 168 global companies have set gender or women-specific CSR targets
• Over 800 CEOs from 59 countries and 39 industries have signed the CEO
Statement of Support for Women’s Empowerment Principles, signaling
their support for gender equality.
• 85% of consumer/household decisions in Europe and US are made by
women
W+ units have a high emotional appeal and need no explanation. Initial focus
group results suggest substantial willingness to pay.
W+ units have the potential to be recognized in sustainability (and maybe one
day financial) accounting.

11. October 2014
10
W+™ Standard: Governance and Operational Design
W+ Standard Committee:
 Defines procedures and requirements for methods, units, accreditation of
verification entities, and resolves complaints, disputes and appeals
W+ Advisory Council:
 Provides objective input on strategy, marketing and connections to
networks
W+ Developers:
 Apply methods and drive issuance of units, including verification
 Operate using W+ Standard rules and procedures, verification by W+
Standard accredited entities
W+ Auditors:
 Independent, 3rd party auditors accredited by WOCAN to verify W+
applications
W+ Beneficiary Payment Aggregator:
 Manage payments to W+ beneficiaries,
 Identified by W+ developer, according to W+ rules, validated by accredited
verification entities
W+ Unit Intermediaries:
 Build demand, transfer and sell units using W+ approved registries

12. October 2014
11
Scope of Work
Outcome Activities Outputs Impacts Inputs
Build Demand for W+ Units using
Fund
W+ Standard
as fulfillment
instrument for
company and
donor targets.
Develop metrics for
women’s empowerment
target setting & accounting
(compatible with W+ units);
Identify women
investors/corporate leaders,
draft term sheet and obtain
support pledges (pooled
into W+ Capacity Fund).
W+ Standard for
target setting
and
achievement
reporting
W+ Capacity
Fund and
procurement
contracts in
place.
Entities use W+
Standard to
define CSR
targets and buy
W+ units to
reach them.
Revenue from
fees and
delivered W+
units.
WOCAN to provide paid
advisory and metric
development activities. 50 k
USD
Resources to conduct road
show. 250 k USD loan,
repaid via fund
management fees.
Management Fees finance
operation.
W+™
branding.
Create demand as
developers conceive client-
driven W+ brand products.
Women Power,
W+™ spa in
hotels W+™
branding for
cosmetics and
hair/skin care
products, etc.
W+™ co-branded
products,
revenues from
W+ unit delivery.
Developed by 3
rd.
parties on
basis of client fees, venture
capital.
W+ Capacity
Fund as
procurement
vehicle.
Propose use of W+ Standard
for Results Based Financing
Framework of women’s
empowerment to
agencies/companies.
Management of
W+™
procurement
contracts with
project
developers.
Increase supply
of W+ Units, fee
revenues.
Resources for pitching. Cost
recovery via market
development
funds/management fees.
Assurance in
the credibility
of W+™
Create Standard
Committee, review
standard documents, and
approve methods and tools.
Operating
Standard
Committee
guidance and
method
documents.
W+ is fully
operational,
based on
revenues from
issuance fees.
Resources funded by seed
funding grants, issuance
fees, founder loans (repay
from fees).
Supply of W+
Units
W+ Unit origination from
flagship pilots plus other
projects.
Issued Units Revenues from
delivered Units.
Resources for origination.
Financed via benefit-
sharing and market
development grants $50-
$80k USD/project.
Funding for
market-
development
Seek funding to support
W+™ market development
activities as grants or pre-
payments.
Grant support,
procurement
contracts with
pre-payments.
Revenues for
market-and
project
development.
Resources for pitching.

13. October 2014
12
The W+™ Team
WOCAN Team
Team Leader
W+ Project Advisory Team
Methodology Development
W+ Market Development and Administration
Communications
Implementing Partners:
South Pole Group Method and project development, unit procurement and sales
Various other project developers and donor agencies
Advisory Council and Standard Committee Members
Edwin Aalders Development Manager, Det Norske Veritas (DNV), Norway
Liz Allen Social Auditors Network, UK
David Antonioli Executive Director, Verified Carbon Standard (VCS), USA
Leslie Durshinger Managing Director, Terra Global Capital, USA
Nancy Gillis Senior Manager, Climate Change & Sustainability Services, Ernst & Young, USA
Sarah Hobson Executive Director, New Field Foundation, USA
Sylvia Low Corporate Responsibility Asia Pacific, Hilton Worldwide
Wangu Mutua Deputy Program Director, Vi Agroforestry Project, Kenya
Eija Pehu Project Leader, Gender in Agriculture Program, World Bank
Ingo Puhl Partner, South Pole Carbon Asset Management, Switzerland
Alyson Slater Senior Associate, CSR Asia, Hong Kong, China
Lee West WOCAN Board of Directors; President, Defensive Portfolio Mngt., USA
Kevin Whitfield Head of African Treasuries, NED Bank Capital, South Africa
-The Standard Committee is a sub-committee of the Advisory Council. Bios found at http://wplus.org/advisory-
council

14. October 2014
13
W+ Pilot Project: Time Saving for Women using
Biogas Digesters in Nepal
In 2014, WOCAN selected Nepal as the site for its
first method development and application in
partnership with the Alternative Energy Promotion
Centre (AEPC) of the Government of Nepal and the
South Pole Carbon Group. The WOCAN W+ team
collaborated with HIMAWANTI (a federation of
Nepal women’s groups) to apply the W+ to a Biogas
Distribution Program of AEPC in two districts, using
the W+ TIME method to measure time saved by
women biogas digester users over the past two
years. Surveys were conducted with non-users as
well, to provide the baseline data. HIMAWANTI
local members were trained as enumerators and
collected the data themselves under the W+ Team’s
guidance – a feature of the initiative which itself
proved empowering to the local women.
The unique feature of this Standard is benefit sharing with rural women. When
the verified units from W+ certified projects are sold, 50% of the net revenue will
be returned to women and women’s groups in project communities. Cash
transfers will be made through local financial institutions that can guarantee that
payments reach the women and their groups. In the case of Nepal, such payments
will be made with a women-focused micro-finance institution that assists rural
women set up bank accounts and receive loans. The W+ payments will provide
women with cash to more easily pay back loans used for entrepreneurial
activities.
The W+ certified Time units from Nepal would be available for sale in November
2014 to a select group of buyers who wish to demonstrate their early support for
the W+ program and its objectives.

15. October 2014
14
The W+™ Fund
Name W+ Capacity Fund, a program of WOCAN
Legal Entity WOCAN (Women Organizing for Change In Agriculture & Natural Resource
Management), registered in New York and Washington, D.C.
Nonprofit
Status
WOCAN is a registered US-based 501 (c) 3 nonprofit with the IRS (12/2004)
Governance W+ Advisory Council, Standard Committee and Investment Committee
govern W+™ and W+ Standard.
Life of Fund 4 years
Objective The objective of the Fund is to build broad external and internal institutional
capacity and private sector procurement demand for W+ Units through
development projects demonstrating the viability of the W+™ as means to
empower women in developing countries and serve the Corporate Social
Responsibility interests of W+ Unit buyers.
The Fund achieves this objective by pooling contributions (financial
commitments) of participants to forward-purchase W+ Units from eligible
projects which integrate and measure women’s empowerment and
participation in six domains: Time, Income & Assets, Health, Leadership,
Education & Knowledge and Food Security.
W+ Units will be issued from those projects that can be verified to have
included women’s empowerment-related elements, quantifying and assigning
a financial value to them.
Fund
Management
The Fund Management team consists of experts with strong financial
backgrounds in the structuring of fund vehicles (HFS-Hedge Fund Services),
procurement of carbon credits (South Pole Carbon Asset Management) and
women’s empowerment/gender experts (WOCAN).
The involved entities operate a large network of on-the-ground staff (in
developing countries) to obtain risk management, auditing, and other
supporting services as needed.

16. October 2014
15
Procurement
Strategy
The Fund Manager solicits and evaluates proposals from interested project
developers to originate a supply of W+ Units. The Fund Manager, with the W+
Program Team and Advisory Council, evaluates eligibility of projects to meet
W+ criteria, assesses non-delivery/default risks and submits to the
Investment Committee a portfolio of procurement options and indicative
procurement terms.
Fund
Returns and
Benefits
The Fund will distribute W+ Units, once issued, and at least annually
thereafter, to all participants pro rata in accordance with their paid in
contributions. Contributors will receive additional benefits based on their
contribution levels (Bronze, Silver or Gold).
Eligible
Projects
Eligible projects must meet the requirements of the W+ Standard and any
additional criteria formulated in the Fund’s procurement strategy.
Procurement
Criteria
All procurement decisions of the Fund are made in accordance with the rules
of the W+ Standard and the Procurement Strategy of the Fund, which is
negotiated, agreed and updated from time to time, by the Investment
Committee and the Advisory Council. The Fund Manager will solicit
procurement proposals in accordance with the Procurement Criteria
(i.e. in relation to targeted countries, project types, etc.).
Investment
Committee
The Investment Committee consists of those participants that have
contributed a total of USD $1 million, or more.
The Investment Committee meets four times per year.
Stakeholder
Consultation
The Fund Manager will conduct an open, publicized, international
stakeholder consultation that provides an opportunity for all interested
stakeholders to comment on the Fund’s Procurement Strategy.
Participants
Committee
The Participants Committee includes the Fund Manager and all Fund
Participants. The Committee convenes annually (remote participation is
possible) as a closed side event of a global conference on social investing or
other events with substantial women’s empowerment agenda. The Fund
Manager reports the status and progress of the Fund.
Registry and
Public Listing
of W+ Units™
It is anticipated that W+ Units will be:
 Validated by a leading third party verifier
 Custodied within an internationally recognized registry
 Listed and tradable on an international commodity exchange

17. October 2014
16
Workflow of the Fund
Activities Resources and Results
Launch Procurement Criteria defined. Formation of all functional
bodies that govern the Fund and operate the W+™ program.
Procurement tendering Fund issues tender documents (approved by Advisory
Council).
Information events in
target countries, or
targeted venues
Fund conducts outreach/informational meetings in targeted
countries, identifies potential partners, project developers and
stakeholders.
Pre-screening of
submissions
Fund provides feedback, Q&A to tender, receives and pre-
screens submissions.
Submission of positive
pre-screened projects &
initial project selection
Fund submits a list of candidate projects for further
consideration by the Investment Committee.
W+ Standard pre-
screening
Candidate projects are invited to prepare PIN and submit to
W+ Standard pre-screening (a USD $500 pre-screening fee
shall apply).
W+ Unit purchase contract
negotiation
Fund negotiates key terms of W+™ purchase contract with
project developer (on the basis of guidance given via
procurement criteria).
Support development of
pre-screened projects
Accepted/contracted projects receive first tranche of W+™
development payment to prepare full PDD and request W+™
registration (if the project fails to register the first tranche
development payment is lost).
Project developer can nominate W+ Unit developer to provide
this service for them.
Project operation and first
issuance
Following successful registration, the project developer
receives the second tranche of the development payment.
W+ Unit (project) developer submits monitoring report to
accredited verification entity that sends issuance request to
W+™ StandardCommittee.
Transfer of W+ Units W+™ Standard organization (within WOCAN) issues W+ Units
and transfers the contracted volume to the Fund. The Fund
distributes issued W+ Units at least annually.
Units will be eligible for custody by a registry and listing on an
international commodity exchange.

18. October 2014
17
The WOCANW+™ Standard and Program
To accelerate women’s empowerment, WOCAN3 has created the W+™: the world’s first
standard to measure positive impacts to women’s social and economic empowerment from
projects such as climate change mitigation and international development programs. The W+™
Standard creates shared social value4 in six domains: Time, Health, Education & Knowledge,
Food Security, Income & Assets and Leadership.
When incorporated into project design and execution, the W+™ provides measurable,
verifiable additional social benefits, resulting in marketable “W+ Units” for sale to corporate or
institutional buyers interested in robust measurement of the CRS investments.
Further details of each of the six domains and the types of activities relevant to each are
described below.
3
WOCAN’s Mission is to build women’s leadership in agriculture and natural resource management through
organizational and individual transformation. WOCAN focuses on three pillars to fulfill its mission: Women’s
Leadership Development, Policy Advocacy and Women's Empowerment.
4 The central premise behind creating shared value is that the competitiveness of a company and the health of the
communities around it are mutually dependent. Recognizing and capitalizing on these connections between
societal and economic progress has the power to unleash the next wave of global growth and to redefine
capitalism.

19. October 2014
18
Six Domains
“Time”
Time is the domain that enables success in all other domains,
and so is the highest priority for method development. In
many parts of the developing world, women spend many
hours each day performing tasks such as gathering fuel wood
or collecting water. When the introduction of technology or
new practices frees women from these physically demanding
and time-consuming tasks, women have more time to care for
their own health, earn cash income, cultivate gardens and new
crops, improve their knowledge and education and participate
in the enhancement of their communities.
In the developed world, the availability of clothes washing
machines freed women from the time-consuming chore of hand laundering clothing. The W+ seeks to
provide similar time relief to women, who can then devote more time toward improving their lives in
other ways.
To achieve the goals of this method, projects need to document
an increase in women’s discretionary time, by measuring shifts in
the use of time away from lower-value activities toward higher-
value activities. This can be accomplished through the use of
timesaving technologies and tools, including; tractors, biogas
digesters, improved cook stoves, water pumps and storage
facilities. The methodology will provide direction and guidance
on survey techniques, culturally appropriate stakeholder
engagement and appropriate degrees of certainty and detail.
Time is the key.
Many organizations support women’s entrepreneurship,
education, maternal health, and food security in the developing world. But, until women are freed from
the necessary chores that consume so much time, they will make little progress in other areas. By
addressing “time poverty” through new technologies and practices, particularly through additional
benefits (such as prevention of deforestation, improved air quality and health), the W+ Time
methodology unlocks women’s potential.
WOCAN estimates that pilot project partnerships can be confirmed, and that the “Time” methodology
can be completed and field-tested within four months of funding.
Funding need estimates are:
$25,000 for Method Development
$25,000 for Field-test validation
$50,000 for Pilot Project Activities

20. October 2014
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“Income & Assets”
In many regions of the world, women have very limited access to financial or technical assets.
Owning property (tools, livestock, land, jewelry), controlling money (having a personal bank
account), and making independent decisions about resource use are important leverage points
for empowerment. Women’s contributions are often un-compensated, but when they are,
women can powerfully affect the well being of their families and communities.
The Income & Assets method
enables project developers to
measure how a project
increases income and assets
that are accessible to or
controlled by women.
Examples of assets may be
money, jewelry, land, trees,
livestock, or equipment.
Additionally, the provision of
legal rights to women, including that of citizenship and the right to own land, can be essential
to women’s empowerment.
“While women make up 66 percent of the labor force in urban areas of developing countries,
they account for only 10 percent of income. Research clearly shows that when women’s
incomes go up, the additional income goes directly to increasing household consumption and
therefore into the overall economy, while increases in men’s
income more often go into personal consumption. In
addition, it is well established that the availability of secure
property rights drives economic development through
investment in property improvements, increased
manufacturing and purchasing on wholesale and retail
markets, access to better employment opportunities, and
improved health and education.”5
Corporate investments such as the Goldman Sachs ‘10,000
Women Initiative’ and similar efforts bring needed attention
to the vast but under-developed social and economic
potential of women. The Income & Assets methodology will enable measurable and verifiable
improvements in access to resources and control of earned assets by women in project
communities.
WOCAN estimates that pilot project partnerships can be confirmed, and that the “Income &
Assets” methodology can be completed and field-tested within four months of funding.
Funding need estimates are:
$25,000 for Method Development,
$25,000 for Field-test validation
$50,000 for Pilot Project Activities
5
A Critical Issue in Urban Economic Development prepared for: the International Housing Coalition and the Urban
Institute - prepared by Carol S. Rabenhorst with the assistance of Anjali Bean, July 2011

21. October 2014
20
“Education & Knowledge”
The benefits of female education for women's empowerment and gender equality are
broadly recognized:
 As female education rises, fertility,
population growth, and infant and child
mortality fall and family health improves.
 Increases in girls' secondary school
enrollment are associated with increases in
women's participation in the labor force and
their contributions to household and
national income.
 Women's increased earning capacity, in turn,
has a positive effect on child nutrition.
 Children — especially daughters — of educated mothers are more likely to be enrolled
in school and to have higher levels of educational attainment.
 Educated women are more politically active and better informed about their legal
rights and how to exercise them6.”
The Education & Knowledge method will enable project developers to evaluate how projects
have resulted in women’s increased knowledge and skills, as well as the transmittal of
women’s knowledge and skills to others in the community. This can be measured by increased
knowledge and skills gained from extension services about agriculture, forest management,
livestock, renewable energy, sanitation and health, etc. Other skills include those of basic
reading and writing, numeracy, business management, computer and GPS use, and
communication. Local initiatives to share knowledge, skills and information, and invitations to
participate in training and education opportunities and exposure visits to observe successful
initiatives in other communities, especially those run by women, can provide strong incentives
and positive examples.
The economic benefits of enhanced education and knowledge among women and girls are
compelling and some businesses see these benefits as a path to creating market demand for
their goods or services or developing a more effective workforce. In addition to these business
motivations, national and regional governments may realize great benefits through improved
economic outputs and reduced social costs, through the educational empowerment of women
and girls.
“Women in developing nations are usually in charge of securing water, food and fuel and of
overseeing family health and diet. Therefore, they tend to put into immediate practice
whatever they learn about nutrition and preserving the environment and natural resources7.”
WOCAN estimates that pilot project partnerships can be confirmed, and that the “Education &
Knowledge” methodology can be completed and field-tested within four months of funding.
Funding need estimates are:
$25,000 for Method Development
$25,000 for Field-test validation
$50,000 for Pilot Project Activities
6
Population Reference Bureau, 2003
7
UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, 2012

22. October 2014
21
“Health”
According to the UNICEF, 66% of the world’s work is done by women. This includes work
inside the home as caregivers for children and seniors, paid and un-paid labor, food production
(cultivating crops, collecting and storing harvests) and resource management (water and fuel).
If women are in poor health, due to poor nutrition, lack of access to health care, or the impacts
of disease, their reduced work capacity will inevitably lead to multiple, cumulative, negative
impacts to families, communities and to national economies. Improving women’s health, and
community health overall, can have a positive multiplier
effects locally, and nationally.
The Health method enables project developers to evaluate
how the project has improved the overall health of women.
This can be documented through improved health education,
expanded access to health services and clinics and improved
staffing and supplies to existing health clinics. Additional
measurable improvements may include: infant and maternal
mortality rates, rates of anemia amongst women, vaccination
rates and local disease rates (respiratory, gastrointestinal,
etc.).
Investing in women’s health is not only the ‘right thing to do’, but investments in health enable
success in other domains. Further, outcomes in health investments can be effectively
measured, and changes over time can be tracked.
WOCAN estimates that pilot project partnerships can be confirmed, and that the “Health”
methodology can be completed and field-tested within four months of funding.
Funding need estimates are:
$25,000 for Method Development
$25,000 for Field-test validation
$50,000 for Pilot Project Activities

23. October 2014
22
“Food Security”
Improvements in Food Security are critical for women’s attainment of economic, social and
health improvements. Women are often responsible for ensuring that their families are fed,
yet they themselves may go without adequate nutrition. Women in developing economies,
particularly in indigenous communities, are the custodians of local plant knowledge,
traditional methods and practices of crop and soil management. Supporting women in their
role as food-producers is critical for long-term food security, improved nutrition and effective,
sustainable resource stewardship.
The Food Security method will enable project
developers to evaluate how the project has decreased
the quantity and quality of food insecurity within
households within the project scope or boundary.
This can be measured through documentation of
increased soil fertility and yields, diversity of crops
and vegetables, and other improvements in farming
systems. Another approach is to measure and
document improvements in tools or access to tools,
food storage facilities, irrigation systems and post-
harvest practices that result in improved crop yields and decreased post-harvest losses,
leading to more availability of nutritious foods for women and their families.
In developing economies, women produce from half to far more than
half of all food production, yet they receive a small fraction of aid
resources directed toward agricultural development. Investments in the
Food Security method and associated projects, to ensure that women
have access to tools, resources, knowledge, facilities, and access to
markets for their production, can have multiple positive benefits in
women’s economic empowerment, nutrition and health, and resource
stewardship.
WOCAN estimates that pilot project partnerships can be confirmed, and that the “Food
Security” methodology can be completed and field-tested within four months of funding.
Funding need estimates are:
$25,000 for Method Development
$25,000 for Field-test validation
$50,000 for Pilot Project Activities

24. October 2014
23
“Leadership”
Within developing economies, women are still widely under-represented in decision-making at
all levels, in the household, in businesses, and in the public sphere. Addressing these inequities
through laws and public policy is a way of formalizing the goal of gender equality. However,
legal changes are not always sufficient to overcome
customs to create lasting changes. Implementation
of programs such as the W+™ methodology can
help close the gap between what laws proscribe
and what actually occurs.
The Leadership methodology enables project
developers to evaluate how projects result in
increased decision making roles for women –
within the context of the project itself or within
households and communities. This can be
measured through evaluating increases in the representation and participation of women both
quantitatively and qualitatively in governance bodies of community organizations (measuring
how many women are in leadership roles and how many are active in discussions and
decisions) or an increase in the effectiveness of women's groups to advocate, manage funds,
negotiate and network through leadership and entrepreneurship skill development and
coaching.
“Gender equality is important in its own right.
Development is a process of expanding freedoms
equally for all people—male and female (Sen, 2009).
Closing the gap in well being between males and
females is as much a part of development as is
reducing income poverty. Greater gender equality also
enhances economic efficiency and improves other
development outcomes8.”
WOCAN estimates that pilot project partnerships can be confirmed, and that the “Leadership”
methodology can be completed and field-tested within four months of funding.
Funding need estimates are:
$25,000 for Method Development
$25,000 for Field-test validation
$50,000 for Pilot Project Activity
8
International Monetary Fund. Empowering Women Is Smart Economics
FINANCE & DEVELOPMENT, March 2012, Vol. 49, No. 1

25. October 2014
24
Pipeline of 8 Sample Projects for W+ Standard
Project
Name
Country Project description W+ Domains Org Website
Kariba REDD+
Project
Zimbabwe
REDD Forestry project with
significant women’s
involvement.
Time,
Leadership
South
Pole
http://southpolecarbon
.com/Kariba/page/proj
ectpage.php
National
Programme for
Improved
Cookstoves
India
Introduces improved cook
stoves pan India, which helps in
reduction of firewood, therefore
time saving for women. Also,
improves health condition.
Health, Time,
Education and
Knowledge
South
Pole
http://www.southpolec
arbon.com/projects/pr
oject_overview
Improved
Woodstoves in
Udaipur -
Helping
Women and
Environment
India
Improved woodstoves help in
easier and faster cooking and
better health.
Health, Time,
Education and
Knowledge
Seva
https://products.markit
.com/br-
reg/public/project.jsp?
project_id=1030000000
01909
Kenya
Agricultural
Carbon Project
Kenya,
Uganda,
Tanzania,
Rwanda
Works with women farmers’
groups to plant trees, offset
carbon in soils, maintain active
saving and borrowing groups,
provide biogas, solar power and
briquettes, provide training in
agriculture and soil fertility,
constructed water collection
systems.
Time, Food
Security,
Health,
Leadership,
Education and
Knowledge
Vi Agro-
forestry
http://www.viagrofore
stry.org
International
Water
Purification
Project
Uganda +
10
Countries
Aims in improving health
condition of women and
children in the project area. It
also helps in reduction firewood
collection as it employs clean
technologies for water
purification.
Health, Time,
Education
South
Pole
http://www.southpolec
arbon.com/projects/pr
oject_overview
Voluntary
Cook stove
PoA
4
Countries
The PoA aims in introducing
improved cook stoves Across
many LDC, which helps in
reduction of firewood, therefore
time saving for women. Also,
improves Health condition.
Health, Time,
Education
South
Pole
http://www.southpolec
arbon.com/projects/pr
oject_overview
Dissemination
of fuel efficient
biomass stoves
and water
purification
systems
Tanzania
This project gives improved
biomass stove and water
purification systems to
households in Tanzania.
Time, Health,
Income and
Assets,
Leadership
Envirofit
https://products.markit
.com/br-
reg/public/project.jsp?
project_id=1030000000
02079
Biogas Micro-
digester
Introduction to
Rural
Households
China
Aims at installing micro bio-
digesters at community -
household level, improving
sanitation by providing toilets,
less backbreaking jobs done by
women and more free time for
women.
Health, Time,
Education and
Knowledge
PEAR
Carbon
Offset
Initiative,
Ltd.
http://www.pear-
carbon-
offset.org/english/inde
x.html

26. October 2014
25
www.wplus.org