Private-Sector Action for Women’s Health and Empowerment

Authors

Robyn Russell and Ilze Melngailis, UN Foundation; 
Carolyn Rodehau and David Wofford, The Evidence Project/ Meridian Group International, Inc. 

Over the next two decades, an estimated one billion women will enter the global workforce, and approximately 94 percent of them will be in emerging and developing economies. For many of these women, a job in a factory or on a farm may be their first formal employment; they may be migrating from rural to urban settings and they often lack access to basic health information and services in addition to other critical life skills needed to live healthy, empowered lives.

The private sector—particularly companies with supply chains that employ disproportionate numbers of women such as apparel, agriculture, home goods, and electronics—is uniquely positioned to reach millions of women with the health and empowerment information and services they need to improve their lives.

This brief, written in partnership with the UN Foundation and The Evidence Project/Meridian Group International, Inc., expands this business case for private sector investment in women’s health and empowerment and sets out concrete actions that the private sector can take to generate improved health outcomes for women.