In News:

The Government e-Marketplace (GeM) and UN Women signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to enhance the participation of women entrepreneurs, especially from the informal sector, in India’s public procurement system under the Womaniya initiative.

About the GeM–UN Women MoU

• Purpose: Promote gender-responsive public procurement by increasing sourcing from women-led businesses.
• Focus Areas:
  • Expanding market access for women entrepreneurs on GeM
  • Capacity building, training, and onboarding of women-led MSEs, SHGs, artisans, and informal-sector enterprises
  • Strengthening hyper-local and forward market linkages
• Implementation:
  • UN Women:
    • Design training modules
    • Share global best practices and success stories
    • Develop validation criteria for women-led businesses
    • Support Womaniya – #VocalForLocal outlet, Udyam registration, and mentoring linkages
  • GeM:
    • Conduct training and onboarding workshops
    • Sensitise government buyers
    • Develop vernacular learning material
    • Connect women entrepreneurs with R&D institutions and Government Labs for product development
• Outcome Alignment: Contributes to Sustainable Development Goal 5 (Gender Equality).

Womaniya Initiative

• Launch: 2019 (on GeM platform)
• Aim: Enable women-led MSEs, SHGs, artisans, and marginalised women to sell directly to government buyers.
• Key Objective: Address the triple challenge faced by women entrepreneurs:
  1. Access to markets
  2. Access to finance
  3. Access to value addition
• Policy Linkage: Supports the objective of 3% reservation in government procurement for women-owned enterprises.
• Impact (Udyam Data):
  • Women-owned MSMEs: 20.5% of total MSMEs
  • Employment contribution: 18.73%
  • Share in total investment: 11.15%

Government e-Marketplace (GeM)

• Launched: 2016
• Nodal Ministry: Ministry of Commerce and Industry
• Nature: One-stop online public procurement portal for Central & State Ministries, Departments, PSUs, and autonomous bodies
• Operator: GeM Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) – fully government-owned, not-for-profit entity
• Coverage: Adopted across all 36 States and UTs (with several states mandating its use)
• Objectives: Transparency, efficiency, cost savings, and reduced corruption
  • Independent assessments (e.g., World Bank) note ~10% cost savings
• Inclusivity Footprint:
  • 10+ lakh MSEs
  • 1.3 lakh artisans & weavers
  • 1.84 lakh women entrepreneurs
  • 31,000+ startups
• Innovation: GeMAI – India’s first generative AI-powered public sector chatbot, supporting voice and text in 10 Indian languages.

Why is it in the News?

According to a recent report by UN Women, six months into the war, Gaza is facing a humanitarian crisis disproportionately impacting women and girls.

What is UN Women?

• Founded in 2010 by the United Nations General Assembly as part of the UN reform agenda.
• Merges resources and mandates to create a more significant impact on gender equality and women's empowerment.
• Serves as a global advocate for women and girls, addressing their needs and accelerating progress.

Key Roles:

• Supports intergovernmental bodies like the Commission on the Status of Women in developing policies, global standards, and norms for gender equality.
• Assists member states in implementing these standards and offers technical and financial support upon request.
• Builds effective partnerships with civil society organizations.
• Leads and coordinates the UN system's work on gender equality while promoting accountability through regular monitoring of progress.

Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs):

• Works globally to realize the SDGs for women and girls.
• Promotes women's equal participation in all aspects of life.

Country-level Support:

• Collaborates with government and non-governmental partners in countries that request assistance.
• Helps implement policies, laws, services, and resources to advance gender equality.

Grant-making Funds:

• Fund for Gender Equality: Provides grants to support innovative, high-impact programs by government agencies and civil society groups.
• UN Trust Fund to End Violence against Women: Finances initiatives that address violence against women and girls.

Commission on the Status of Women (CSW):

• A global policy-making body focused on gender equality and women's advancement.
• Operates as a functional commission of the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC).

Information and Advocacy:

• Regularly provides information on women's rights issues to the General Assembly, ECOSOC, and the Security Council.
• Maintains the UN Secretary-General's database on violence against women, tracking measures taken by UN Member States and organizations.
• UN Women plays a vital role in advancing gender equality and women's empowerment worldwide by providing crucial support, resources, and advocacy through its various initiatives and collaborations.