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Women in the Pacific, as in other less-developed regions, face challenges to realizing their economic potential and these are compounded by a series of systemic, legal and institutional barriers. Taken together, these challenges can severely limit women's participation in the formal economy and exclude them from entrepreneurial activity. The Pacific Private Sector Development Initiative (PSDI) is a regional technical assistance facility co-financed by the Government of Australia, the Government of New Zealand, and the Asian Development Bank (ADB). Since 2006, PSDI has been working with ADB's 14 Pacific Developing Member Countries to improve the enabling environment for business and support inclusive, private sector-led economic growth.

This report argues that, to lower the barriers to Pacific women's participation in the private sector, a multi-pronged approach is needed. Broader initiatives to ease the constraints to doing business in the Pacific should, wherever possible, include provisions to accommodate women's specific needs to ensure their equal access and benefit. Meanwhile, dedicated projects are needed to deal with the skills and training shortcomings that limit women's opportunities in the formal and professional sectors. This is the approach of the PSDI and its Economic Empowerment of Women activities.

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Bhutan has undergone significant change since the 1960s when it opened itself to the world and started the process of planned development. It has transformed itself from a subsistence economy into a middle-income country with rising human development indicators. This progress is not without challenges, for example, differences in living conditions and opportunities between rural and urban areas that prompt rural-urban migration, labour shortages in agriculture, and unemployment. There are gender dimensions to each of these challenges, prompting the Government of Bhutan and its development partners to mainstream gender in its policies, programs, and projects.

This publication aims to support this process by providing insights into gender issues in agriculture and rural livelihoods, education, energy, environment, private sector development, transport, urban development, and work and unemployment. The first chapter provides additional general background for the sector-focused chapters that follow. It provides a brief review of the country context, highlights key points about gender equality and women's position, and summarises the policy and institutional context for addressing gender equality issues. The eight chapters that follow each focus on a specific sector. They are are intended to be practical resources to assist with gender mainstreaming in accordance with government policy. Each chapter starts by providing some context about sector characteristics and challenges. Gender equality issues relevant to sector activities and outcomes are then set out, substantiated with data where possible. Government commitments to support women or gender equality in the sector are briefly highlighted. Each chapter concludes with a number of suggestions about issues and opportunities to consider as part of policy and strategy development in the sector.

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This publication is part of the commitment of the South Asia Department of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to deliver gender equality results. The case studies featured herein fall within priority areas identified in ADB's country partnership strategy for Bhutan, specifically transport, energy (including rural electrification), and finance and private sector development. The case studies provide an overview of how gender issues can be addressed through projects that promote road workers' and their families' access to services, such as water, electricity, health, and education; provide skills training as solar engineers; offer technical and vocational training to women in nontraditional occupations; allocate a fixed percentage of credit; and provide business development services to women entrepreneurs. The case studies demonstrate the effectiveness of integrating gender design features in the projects, such as explicitly targeting women as beneficiaries of the projects, providing for women's access to employment, targeting women to be trained in nontraditional occupations, and identifying niche markets for women entrepreneurs, among others. The contents are as follows: Micro, small, and medium-sized enterprise sector development program; Rural electrification and network expansion project: rural electricians training program; Basic skills development project and rural skills development project; Road improvement project: improving the well-being of road workers. Show less