Browse by Theme: Value Chains

As CARE gets ready to launch its new Women’s Economic Justice strategy, we’re sharing some diverse perspectives on why women’s economic justice matters and what’s needed to achieve it. Linda Scott is an academic, a long-term partner of CARE and author of The Double X Economy. From the impact of COVID-19 to the value of unpaid care to the role of the private sector, here are some of Linda’s thoughts on why the economic potential and contribution of women cannot be ignored.

Women make up approximately half of workers in global value chains, yet their representation in leadership positions is poor. Through the FCDO-funded Work and Opportunities for Women (WOW) programme – of which CARE is an alliance member – M&S is seeking to understand where the women leaders are in their value chains, what are the barriers holding them back, and how M&S can work with their suppliers to help more women progress. This blog shares some of the insights from our research so far.

The garment industry employs 60 million workers around the world, nearly 75% of whom are women. The International Labour Organization has estimated that nearly 25 million jobs could be lost as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, and women working in garment supply chains are particularly vulnerable. During this period of crisis, CARE is calling on brands, governments, supplier factories, trade unions and civil society to take action to protect the rights of women working in the garment industry.

The CEO Agenda 2019 was launched at DAVOS by a number of leading fashion brands, with support from Global Fashion Agenda. It’s good to see major brands trying to tackle the ethical and environmental challenges facing the sector – and society more broadly – but the experience of CARE and our partners in civil society and the trade union movement demonstrates a number of important gaps in this Agenda and limitations to what it can achieve in its current form.

In a politically volatile environment, CARE is working to implement Community Development Forums (CDF) in tea estates in Sri Lanka. The CDFs are delivered in partnership with the tea workers, estate management and trade union representatives and aim to break-down barriers to show how tea communities can collaborate to achieve social and business benefits. In December 2018 I travelled to Bandarawella to understand more about how CARE’s partnership with the tea company, Twinings is supporting the establishment of CDFs to deliver transformational change.

CARE and Diageo have conducted an in-depth gender analysis of Diageo’s barley supply chain in Oromia region, Ethiopia. We have been working together in a global partnership since 2016 and wanted to more deeply understand the barriers and opportunities for women’s economic empowerment. We believe that what we learned could provide useful lessons not just for Diageo, but for any business with a global supply chain.

The DFID-flagship Work and Opportunities for Women programme (WOW) has recently completed its inception phase and is now beginning implementation. The programme was originally conceived as a response to the UN High-Level panel report on women’s economic empowerment, which CARE broadly welcomed at the time. The programme is being run by an alliance of CARE, PwC, BSR, Social Development Direct and the University of Manchester, and aims to enhance the economic empowerment of 300,000 women by 2022.