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Photo credit: ESCAP/Cindy Liu Blog

Ponny Lim runs a thriving aquaculture enterprise in Cambodia, growing her business with the support of a United Nations programme that guarantees loans to women entrepreneurs who are beyond…

ESCAP Photo/Mailee Osten-Tan Story

Globally, it is estimated that over 70 per cent of women-owned businesses are either financially underserved or unserved. This gender finance gap deprives women and women-led businesses of crucial…

Photo credit: Dvara E-Registry Blog

In the heart of India's agricultural landscape, smallholder farmers, comprising 70 per cent of the sector, face a significant barrier: limited access to formal financial institutions and resources…

Photo credit: Shutterstock/Piyaset Blog

Based on the current rate of progress in Asia and the Pacific, the Sustainable Development Goals will only be achieved by 2062 – a sobering reminder of how much work remains.  Women and girls…

Photo credit: UNDP Sri Lanka Blog

Selyn, a women-led handloom business, offers flexible employment and valuable income opportunities to about 1,000 women artisans and persons from marginalized groups in rural Sri Lanka. Selyn…

Photo credit: 2X Global Blog

In the bustling financial hub of Singapore, Rhea See, an early-stage fund manager, leads an accelerator platform dedicated to empowering women in technology. She firmly believes that investing in…

Photo credit: UN Photo/Kibae Park Blog

Have you ever tried to register a birth, a death or maybe your own marriage? Unfortunately, many of these vital events in Asia and the Pacific remain unregistered often with dire consequences for…

Photo credit: Unsplash/John Schnobrich Blog

The potential of e-commerce to drive inclusive development has been debated for decades. As far back as 2002, then-United Nations Secretary-General Kofi A. Annan, in the publication titled E-Commerce…

Photo credit: iStockphoto/Howtogoto Story

Gulmira Kuzhagaliyeva, a former senior expert at Qaz-Trade, Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Trade and Integration, has been exploring sustainable methods of food packaging and storage in her work  ̶…

Photo credit: Urmatt Limited Story

When Lisa Huyen first set up her company, Vinasamex, which specializes in certified organic cinnamon and star anise grown in the mountainous and poorer provinces of Viet Nam, she faced daunting…