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Draft Platform for Action
F. [Inequality in women's access to and participation in the definition of economic structures and policies [and the productive process itself]] [Economic potential and independence of women] [Gender equality in economic structures, policies and all forms of productive activity]
Strategic objective F.3. Provide business services and access to markets, information and technology to low-income women

Actions to be taken

175. By Governments [in cooperation with non-governmental organizations and the private sector]:

(a) Provide public infrastructure to [ensure] [facilitate] equal market access for women and men entrepreneurs;

(b) Develop programmes that provide training and retraining, particularly in new technologies and affordable services to women in business management, product development, financing, production and quality control, marketing and the legal aspects of business;

(c) Provide outreach programmes to inform low-income and poor women, particularly in rural and remote areas, of opportunities for market and technology access, and provide assistance in taking advantage of such opportunities;

(d) Create non-discriminatory [investment funds] [support services] for women's businesses, and target women, particularly low-income women, in trade promotion programmes;

(e) Disseminate information about successful women entrepreneurs in both traditional and non-traditional economic activities and the skills necessary to achieve success; facilitate networking and the exchange of information;

(f) Take measures to ensure equal access of women to ongoing training in the workplace, including unemployed women, single parents, women re-entering the labour market after an extended temporary exit from employment owing to family responsibilities and other causes, and women displaced by new forms of production or by retrenchment, and increase incentives to enterprises to expand the number of vocational and training centres that provide training for women in non-traditional areas;

(g) Provide affordable support services, such as high-quality, flexible and affordable child-care services, that take into account the needs of working men and women.

176. By local, national, regional and international business organizations and non-governmental organizations concerned with women's issues:

Advocate, at all levels, for the promotion and support of women's businesses and enterprises, including those in the informal sector, and the equal access of women to productive resources.

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