Reducing Barriers To Women’s Economic Empowerment In Moldova
3/29/2021
The ABA ROLI-led Women and Girls Empowered (WAGE) consortium, funded by the U.S. Department of State Secretary’s Office of Global Women's Issues, is pleased to announce its new initiative “Reducing Barriers to Women’s Economic Empowerment in Moldova”. Through the initiative, the Center for International Private Enterprise (CIPE) and ABA ROLI will aim to build and support an alliance of women’s organizations to increase women’s participation in economic activity in Moldova.
Moldovan women’s employment rate is the lowest among other European countries, with only 44.6 percent[1] of women engaged in the labor force. Additionally, Moldova has one of the highest rates of gender-based violence in Europe, around 63 percent[2] of Moldovan women above the age of 15 may have experienced psychological, physical, or sexual violence in their lifetime.
The Moldovan government has signed and ratified numerous international conventions promoting gender equality; however, patriarchal norms, lack of political will, and lack of funding for existing government policies still inhibit Moldovan women from fully and freely participating in the economy and society. Widespread gender-based violence, as well as social expectations around women’s roles and care responsibilities, create barriers to women’s professional development. A recent study showed that 90.5 percent[3] of men and 81.5 percent[4] of women consider women's most important priority to be domestic work. Women account for only 27.5 percent[5] of entrepreneurs in Moldova and are mostly segregated into lower-paying occupations where they are less likely to assume business leadership positions. The COVID-19 pandemic has only intensified these challenges by threatening the existence of small and medium enterprises that tend to employ the most women, further limiting opportunities for women and keeping them out of the workforce at a time when domestic violence has dramatically surged.[6]
While there have been numerous initiatives in Moldova focused on gender-based violence or supporting women’s entrepreneurship, this new WAGE initiative is the first program to take an integrated approach to improve the enabling environment for women in the economy. The program will bring together a broad and diverse coalition of women’s civil society associations and private sector organizations to examine and address social, policy, and other barriers to women’s equal participation, including gender-based violence. Alongside local partners like the Center for Entrepreneurship and Economic Policy (CAPE) and the Women’s Law Center CIPE and ABA ROLI will seek to create an inclusive economic environment enabling Moldovan women to lead more resilient, independent, and economically sustainable lives.
[1] Global Gender Gap Report 2020 - Reports - World Economic Forum (weforum.org)
[2] 07_machet-FEMEILE_victime_2016_eng.indd (unwomen.org)
[3] untitled (promundoglobal.org)
[4] untitled (promundoglobal.org)
[5] MD.pdf (genderindex.org)
[6] The impact of the pandemic on domestic abuse around the world (cnn.com)
*Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this blog post do not necessarily reflect the views of the United States Government.
Women and Girls Empowered (WAGE) is a global consortium to advance the status of women and girls, led by the American Bar Association Rule of Law Initiative (ABA ROLI) in close partnership with the Center for International Private Enterprise, Grameen Foundation, and Search for Common Ground. WAGE works to strengthen the capacity of civil society and private sector organizations (CSOs) in target countries to improve the prevention of and response to gender-based violence (GBV); advance the women, peace, and security (WPS) agenda; and support women’s economic empowerment (WEE). In this context, WAGE provides direct assistance to women and girls, including information, resources, and services they need to succeed as active and equal participants in the global economy. WAGE also engages in collaborative research and learning to build a body of evidence on relevant promising practices in these thematic areas. To account for the deeply interconnected nature of women’s and girls’ experiences, WAGE’s initiatives employ approaches that are highly collaborative, integrated, and inclusive. WAGE is funded by the U.S. Department of State Secretary’s Office of Global Women’s Issues.
The ABA ROLI-led Women and Girls Empowered (WAGE) consortium, funded by the U.S. Department of State Secretary’s Office of Global Women's Issues, is pleased to announce its new initiative “Reducing Barriers to Women’s Economic Empowerment in Moldova”. Through the initiative, the Center for International Private Enterprise (CIPE) and ABA ROLI will aim to build and support an alliance of women’s organizations to increase women’s participation in economic activity in Moldova.
Moldovan women’s employment rate is the lowest among other European countries, with only 44.6 percent[1] of women engaged in the labor force. Additionally, Moldova has one of the highest rates of gender-based violence in Europe, around 63 percent[2] of Moldovan women above the age of 15 may have experienced psychological, physical, or sexual violence in their lifetime.
The Moldovan government has signed and ratified numerous international conventions promoting gender equality; however, patriarchal norms, lack of political will, and lack of funding for existing government policies still inhibit Moldovan women from fully and freely participating in the economy and society. Widespread gender-based violence, as well as social expectations around women’s roles and care responsibilities, create barriers to women’s professional development. A recent study showed that 90.5 percent[3] of men and 81.5 percent[4] of women consider women's most important priority to be domestic work. Women account for only 27.5 percent[5] of entrepreneurs in Moldova and are mostly segregated into lower-paying occupations where they are less likely to assume business leadership positions. The COVID-19 pandemic has only intensified these challenges by threatening the existence of small and medium enterprises that tend to employ the most women, further limiting opportunities for women and keeping them out of the workforce at a time when domestic violence has dramatically surged.[6]
While there have been numerous initiatives in Moldova focused on gender-based violence or supporting women’s entrepreneurship, this new WAGE initiative is the first program to take an integrated approach to improve the enabling environment for women in the economy. The program will bring together a broad and diverse coalition of women’s civil society associations and private sector organizations to examine and address social, policy, and other barriers to women’s equal participation, including gender-based violence. Alongside local partners like the Center for Entrepreneurship and Economic Policy (CAPE) and the Women’s Law Center CIPE and ABA ROLI will seek to create an inclusive economic environment enabling Moldovan women to lead more resilient, independent, and economically sustainable lives.
[1] Global Gender Gap Report 2020 - Reports - World Economic Forum (weforum.org)
[2] 07_machet-FEMEILE_victime_2016_eng.indd (unwomen.org)
[3] untitled (promundoglobal.org)
[4] untitled (promundoglobal.org)
[5] MD.pdf (genderindex.org)
[6] The impact of the pandemic on domestic abuse around the world (cnn.com)
*Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this blog post do not necessarily reflect the views of the United States Government.
Women and Girls Empowered (WAGE) is a global consortium to advance the status of women and girls, led by the American Bar Association Rule of Law Initiative (ABA ROLI) in close partnership with the Center for International Private Enterprise, Grameen Foundation, and Search for Common Ground. WAGE works to strengthen the capacity of civil society and private sector organizations (CSOs) in target countries to improve the prevention of and response to gender-based violence (GBV); advance the women, peace, and security (WPS) agenda; and support women’s economic empowerment (WEE). In this context, WAGE provides direct assistance to women and girls, including information, resources, and services they need to succeed as active and equal participants in the global economy. WAGE also engages in collaborative research and learning to build a body of evidence on relevant promising practices in these thematic areas. To account for the deeply interconnected nature of women’s and girls’ experiences, WAGE’s initiatives employ approaches that are highly collaborative, integrated, and inclusive. WAGE is funded by the U.S. Department of State Secretary’s Office of Global Women’s Issues.
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