Growing businesses that create value for women and increase their economic participation is key to strengthening the financial underpinnings of resource limited markets. Over the last decade, statistics consistently show that women entrepreneurs make an outsized contribution to job creation, economic growth and community prosperity in emerging market economies.  Closing the gender labor gap could add up to US $28 trillion to annual global GDP.  

Small-to medium-sized enterprises are the backbone of many emerging market economies, contributing to productivity and job creation, and accounting for between 70% - 95% of new employment opportunities.  Small businesses are often the main provider of essential goods and services in these communities, providing healthcare, water, energy and agriculture – sub-sectors that are particularly resilient in the face of global market challenges given their critical nature and locally-driven demand.

Yet even prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, significant obstacles existed to unleashing the economic potential of women-led businesses, including an estimated US $320 billion shortfall in access to credit for women despite having a lower-nonperforming rate as compared to men.  The COVID-19 burden has only exacerbated the gaps.  Evidence shows that women-led small businesses are disproportionately impacted by lockdown measures, with some reports suggesting that as many as 60% of small businesses led by women have lost their sources of income, three times more than those that are led by men, totaling an expected additional US $1 trillion loss from the global economy.  Effective support for women entrepreneurs will increase gender equity, reduce poverty, and will promote more inclusive and robust economic growth.

As we rebuild economies and health systems, governments, development finance institutions, investors, donors and the private sector are closely examining the potential of scaling women entrepreneurs for health with the potential to activate a key economic driver, while further growing access to primary care services.  Properly financed, empowered, trained and equipped, female health workers, lady care visitors, midwives and women attendants have the potential to not only expand access to health care in resource-limited countries for a range of conditions, but also simultaneously spark economic growth and fiscal resilience. 

The Center for Global Health and Development is bringing together a select group of global and local health experts, policy leaders and decision makers from development finance institutions, donors and investors, multi-lateral organizations, private sector companies, governments and other key sectors to look at sustainable solutions to unleashing the power of women small to medium-sized enterprises while driving access to quality health care at the lower end of the socio-economic pyramid in resource-limited markets.  Participants will examine sustainable strategies to invest in, empower and mobilize women entrepreneurs for health using a Care for the Family approach.

Featured Speakers

COLIN BUCKLEY
General Council, Head of External Affairs
CDC UK

Mr. Buckley is responsible for CDC’s relations with external stakeholders and oversees legal, compliance, business integrity and communications functions. He has previously held the positions of Chief Operating Officer and Head of Strategy. He joined CDC in 2013.

PHYLLIS KURLANDER COSTANZA
Head of Social Impact & CEO
UBS Optimus Foundation

Phyllis Kurlander Costanza is Head of Social Impact and CEO UBS Optimus Foundation. She is committed to making UBS a force for driving positive change in society and the environment for future generations. As part of the Sustainability and Impact group, Phyllis oversees client and community philanthropy globally, the UBS Optimus Foundation and social finance. Phyllis is also dedicated to finding innovative ways to use finance to tackle some of the world's most pressing social and environmental issues. Prior to UBS, Phyllis was a senior executive and board member of the Children's Investment Fund Foundation (CIFF).

Osman Khalid Waheed is the CEO of Ferozsons Laboratories Limited. He joined the company in 1993 and became the president of in 1999. Mr. Waheed has expanded the company portfolio of medical solutions for critical diseases by forging alliances with a number of leading international partners including Gilead Sciences, and Boston Scientific Inc., and others.

DR. ANSHU BANERJEE
Director for the Department of Maternal, Newborn, Child and Adolescent Health and Ageing, World Health Organization and Deputy Executive Director, Partnership for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health (PMNCH)

Dr. Banerjee is the principal board member at the Partnership for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health and Director for the Department of Maternal, Newborn, Child and Adolescent Health and Ageing at the World Health Organization (WHO). He previously served as Director Global Coordination in the Office of the Assistant Director General for Family Women’s and Children’s Health, WHO Geneva, where he led WHO’s work to operationalize the UN Secretary General’s Global Strategy for Women’s, Children’s and Adolescents’ Health.

Mr. Klapwijk brings several decades as a project developer focusing on improved health outcomes alongside several of the sustainable development goals (SDGs). Jasper has a long history in commercial banking and private equity, and has focused on primary health related projects with Amref, Philips and other organizations.

Mohammad Ali Ibrahim has over 15 years of experience in project management, communications, and sustainability with a proven track record of handling complex, multi-million-dollar projects pertaining to the corporate and development sector in Pakistan.

Under his current role as Head of Marketing & Communications at Mobilink Microfinance Bank Limited – MMBL (largest digital bank in Pakistan with over over 31 million registered users including 14 million monthly active digital wallets), Ali oversees the execution of MMBL’s Marketing, Communications and Digital Thought Leadership portfolio. Before joining MMBL, Ali served as the Stream Head Digital Communications – Internal & External at Jazz, where he contributed towards the transformation of corporate communications to a business-critical function.

Ali has also led the sustainability portfolio at Jazz in the past and executed various initiatives in Pakistan including the award-winning Jazz Smart Schools program. Ali has also led several development initiatives aimed at empowering society through technology to develop innovative digital and financial solutions for addressing Pakistan’s socio-economic challenges and has also contributed several publications based on his vast experience. He has worked extensively in the digital entrepreneurship ecosystem in Pakistan and has mentored various startups incubated at National Incubation Centre, Islamabad and Durshals in KPK.

Ali holds a Master’s degree from Lahore University of Management Sciences with majors in Project Management & Finance and a Bachelor’s degree from FAST-NUCES.

Ms. Murray is the Executive Director of Global Patient Solutions which includes 127 countries in Africa, Central, South and Southeast Asia, Eastern Europe, Central America and the Caribbean. She joined Gilead Sciences in 2005 as a member of the newly formed National Accounts Management team focused on building and expanding the company’s presence and commitment to people living with HIV disease.  Prior to joining Gilead Sciences, she held several leadership roles including at Glaxo Welcome/GlaxoSmithKline where she developed opportunities and models to expand access to care, treatment, disease awareness and medical education in the inner cities and minority, non-English speaking, communities where the burden of disease was and remains disproportionately high and health equity low.

Dr. Huma Qureshi is a Gastroenterologist with prime focus on liver diseases. Recently she retired from her position as “Executive Director” of Pakistan Health Research Council, Islamabad and “National Lead” on the prevention and control of viral hepatitis in Pakistan. In 2007 she had conducted a National Survey on Prevalence of Hepatitis B&C in General Population of Pakistan. In 2017 she developed the National Hepatitis Strategic Framework 2017-21 In 2018 she developed the National Hepatitis C testing and treatment guidelines.

ANNIE THERIAULT
Chief Investment Officer
Grand Challenges Canada

Ms. Theriault leads Grand Challenges Canada’s effort to expand its financial product offerings. Annie also works closely with the organization’s most promising portfolio companies and those of the Every Woman Every Child Innovation Marketplace, an initiative also supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, USAID, and NORAD.

Ms. Zafar is the founder and managing director of Kashf Foundation. She worked with the World Bank in Islamabad in the Water and Sanitation department for several years prior to setting up the Foundation. Ms. Zafar was one of the first Ashoka Fellows in Pakistan and has been a Schwab Foundation Social Entrepreneur since 2004. Ms. Zafar has also been awarded the Tamgha-e-Imtiaz, one of Pakistan s highest civilian awards, by the President of Pakistan for her work in the field of development and women’s empowerment and was also awarded the Skoll Award for Social Entrepreneurship in 2007 and the Vital Voices award for Economic Empowerment in 2010. She is also serving as a member of the Prime Minister’s Taskforce on Austerity and Federal Government restructuring, and sits on the board of several institutions including the Finca Microfinance Bank, the Punjab Board of Investment and Trade, the Punjab Social Protection Board and Kaarvaan Crafts. Ms. Zafar is a graduate of the Wharton Business School, University of Pennsylvania, USA and also holds a Master’s degree in Development Economics from Yale University, USA.

ZAINAB SAEED
Head, Research and Development
Kashf Foundation
Ms. Zainab Saeed holds a Masters degree in Economics from London School of Economics. She has more than 10 years of Kashf experience along with diverse exposure of working with different departments including Operations, Human Resources, Strategic Communication and Research. Currently she is heading the Research department as Head of Research & Customer Insights.

Ms. McConville has served as the Senior Midwifery Advisory for the WHO for the past 8 years with a focus on how women, newborns and their families can access quality, equitable and dignified midwifery care to strengthen women’s capabilities. Fran has tirelessly worked with global partners to support research, advocacy and played an instrumental role in the preparation of the “State of the World’s Midwifery, 2021.”

Gerhard Pries is the founder and CEO of Sarona Asset Management, a firm investing private equity and private debt in mid-market companies across global emerging markets. Sarona invests on behalf of family and institutional investors, seeking strong financial returns, and positive social and environmental impact wherever it invests.