WOMEN4BUSINESS REPORT 2020

The Women4Business Report – Inclusive sourcing and women’s entrepreneurship: Accelerating the recovery for business, economy and society demonstrates the need to support women entrepreneurs and promote gender-inclusiveness in supply chains to increase their resilience and sustainability.

It’s shockingly clear that women are disproportionately facing negative impacts following the Covid-19 crisis. A survey of women’s businesses worldwide by WEConnect International revealed that 90% experienced a significant reduction in revenue in early 2020 as a result of the crisis .

The Women4Business survey , led by Kearney , has highlighted that a clear business case for diverse supply chains is emerging and that businesses are becoming increasingly conscious of gender-diversity in their supply chains.  Close to half (47%) of the companies we surveyed in 2020 have a supplier diversity and/or gender-responsive procurement programme, up from 35% in 2019. The number of companies reporting executive level commitment to supplier diversity more than doubled in 2020, up to 31% from 14% in 2019.

However, in Europe key barriers to achieving supplier diversity still exist , mainly due to the lack of information and support, with half of the interviewed CPOs having expressed the need for more information and best practices knowledge .

To address these key barriers, the Women4Business Toolkit to Action provides companies with essential tools to implement diverse supplier programmes in the long term. These include the Inclusive Sourcing Journey , a digital diagnostic tool to assess the maturity, reach and impact of supplier diversity and gender-inclusive sourcing, and the legal guide for positive action along with the Women’s Forum calls to G7 leaders, and a new pilot programme #WomenEntrepreneurs4Good. Together, these help to show how organisations and governments can accelerate the recovery through inclusive sourcing and women’s entrepreneurship.