The United Nations’ 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development defines the way forward for economic growth, gender equality, poverty and a secure future through partnerships and collaborations. The UdyamStree campaign, aligns with and endeavors to achieve the Sustainable Development Goal 05, i.e., Gender Equality, through its vision to create a gender-inclusive ecosystem and a level playing field for women entrepreneurs in the country.
India being the third largest startup ecosystem in the world and having a women populace of about 48%, records a Female Labour Force Participation Rate of only about 21% that is not even half of the global average of 47%.1
Indian women do not lack will and ambition. If given equal opportunities, they can contribute significantly to innovation, economic growth, and job creation. However, the deeply embedded gender norms among other socio-cultural issues such as inequal access to finance and property, along with the lack of support from family to name a few, are some reasons which inhibit their participation in the economy.
As per the World Economic Forum’s Gender Gap Report 2021, economic gender gap is particularly profound in India. Ranking at 140 among 156 countries, India has fallen by 28 places since 2020, and it is the third-worst performer among South Asian countries. Economic opportunities for Indian women are extremely limited at just 32.6%, slightly better than other developing countries like Pakistan (31.6%), Syria (28.5%), Yemen (28.2%), Iraq (22.8%) and Afghanistan (18%).2
Boosting women’s participation in employment and entrepreneurship in India has the potential to grow the country’s GDP by $ 0.7 trillion by 2025, and simultaneously enhance levels of gender equality and women’s economic empowerment3. Therefore, there is an urgent need to be more inclusive and support women’s participation in the Indian economy. A fundamental way to utilise their untapped economic potential is to create more jobs for them and encourage their participation in entrepreneurial ecosystem.
An initiative by EdelGive Foundation, UdyamStree aims to boost the entrepreneurial spirit in women and plot women entrepreneurship as one of the key pathways to boosting women’s economic empowerment in India. Through its commitment to bridge the gender gap in the entrepreneurship ecosystem through collective action and engagement across stakeholder groups, UdyamStree works towards creating a conducive environment for women entrepreneurship in India.
The ‘Landscape study on Women Entrepreneurship’ is a flagship initiative under the UdyamStree campaign. The multi-faceted study carries insights pertaining to complex socio-cultural and economic challenges that women face during their entrepreneurial journey and how policy implementation, advocacy and multistakeholder interventions could overcome them.
The study is a steppingstone to understand the complexities faced by women in the field of entrepreneurship and decipher the interventions required to contribute to the current existing ecosystem. It aims to shift the existing narrative around women entrepreneurship in India to that of progress, equity, and growth.
EdelGive Foundation is one of India’s leading grant-making organisations, and a go-to partner of choice for Indian and foreign funders wanting to engage with the Indian development ecosystem. Our unique philanthropic model places EdelGive at the centre of grant-making, by providing initial grants to NGOs and by managing funding from other institutional and corporate funders. Consequently today, EdelGive functions as a Philanthropic Fund Manager and Advisor between grant-makers and credible NGOs. Over the last 13 years, EdelGive Foundation has supported over 150 organisations across 111 districts in 14 states of India, influencing commitments of over INR 461 crore to NGOs in the sector. For more information please visit – www.edelgive.org.