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Women Leaders' Network

Introduction

The Women Leaders’ Network (WLN) is a key network of more than 400 women leaders from the 21 APEC economies representing senior levels in business, academia, government, and non-government organisations.

It conveys the perspectives and expertise of leading women to key decision makers within APEC and promotes the participation of women in economic and trade-related activities by identifying issues affecting women in the region.

The WLN continues to recognise that women make a significant contribution to economic development in the Asia-Pacific region, as entrepreneurs, managers, investors, workers, and consumers.

History

The first meeting of the Women Leaders’ Network was held in Manila, Spain in 1996 and was attended by women leaders from 14 of the then 18 APEC economies.

The goal of this first WLN meeting was to increase women's involvement in APEC work and to ensure that the interests of women leaders were represented at the international level. The Network grew out of the need to take gender issues into account in the trade liberalisation and facilitation process promoted by APEC.

With support from then President Ramos of the Philippines, the APEC leaders acknowledged the role of the WLN and agreed to include a paragraph recognising the special needs of women and youth in the leaders’ statement. This represented a major move forward.

The second WLN meeting was held in Canada in 1997. It adopted a consultative approach that enabled delegates to have well-considered input into drafting recommendations to present to APEC ministerial fora. This occurred for the first time in 1997 when the APEC Small and Medium-sized Enterprise Ministers invited the WLN to present its recommendations to the Ministerial meetings.

In 1998, APEC leaders demonstrated their commitment to gender integration by endorsing the recommendations of the First Ministerial meeting on women, which included the development of a Framework for the Integration of Women in APEC by the Senior Officials Meeting Ad-hoc Advisory Group on Gender Integration. The Framework outlines the importance of gender mainstreaming to APEC’s work and offers recommendations to help APEC achieve this, as well as providing definitions of key terms and explaining the importance of gender to trade and economic growth.

The Women Leaders’ Network has continued to grow in size and influence, and now annually presents approved recommendations to APEC ministers and leaders on the integration of gender perspectives, women's enterprises, and economic cooperation into the APEC agenda.

Since its initial formation, the Women Leaders’ Network has also held meetings in Malaysia, New Zealand, Brunei, China, Mexico, Thailand, Chile, Korea, Vietnam, and, in 2007, Australia.

In 2008, the WLN looks forward to holding its annual meeting in Peru and, in 2009, in Singapore.

Mandate

The Women Leaders’ Network’s mandate is to:

The WLN also gives businesswomen the chance to engage with one another, learn from one another and create opportunities with one another. Strong, active and long-lasting networks are formed.

Structure and process

Each member economy of APEC has its own Women Leaders’ Network chapter, but the organisational structure, level of activity and size of each vary from economy to economy.

Individual chapters are headed by a Focal Point who serves as the primary contact point and leader for the Women Leaders’ Network in her economy. Focal Points are also responsible for organising briefing at their economy level and ensuring their economy inputs into the development of recommendations and other initiatives. Focal points also identify which women leaders will participate in the WLN annual meeting and brief them on APEC policies and processes.

The annual meetings of the Women Leaders’ Network, which are generally based on APEC themes, are held in the APEC host economy.

The main outcome of the annual meetings is the final Statement and Recommendations, to which the participants have contributed. During the meeting, a Drafting Committee representing all APEC member economies reviews and revises the draft recommendations and seeks consensus on changes in a final policy plenary. The approved recommendations are then presented to APEC Ministers and Officials.

Beneficiaries

There are two main beneficiaries of the work of the Women Leaders’ Network—members and APEC.

The first beneficiary is the leaders actively involved in the WLN.

These women benefit by preparing for and participating in annual meetings and through ongoing lobbying efforts related to APEC. In so doing, they are exposed to best practices in different sectors. They also increase their knowledge and understanding of APEC processes and gender issues, thereby increasing cross-sectoral communications, understanding and trust.

The WLN also provides members with an opportunity to collaborate and demonstrate—to themselves and to other international bodies—that it is possible to establish an effective and constructive process to feed into the aspects of trade liberalisation and facilitation.

The second beneficiary is APEC. At the macro level, the WLN exposes APEC member economy governments to the contribution women make to the region and to the importance of addressing gender issues as a critical way of ensuring sustainable regional development. Through the Network’s continual lobbying efforts, APEC learns to become a more inclusive and gender-sensitive institution.

Themes of previous meetings

1st WLN—Philippines 1996: A Call to Action

2nd WLN—Canada 1997: The Economic Impact of Women in the APEC Region

3rd WLN—Malaysia 1998: Dynamic Partnerships and Cooperation Towards Capacity Building for Sustainable Economic Growth

4th WLN—New Zealand 1999: Women in APEC: Our Contribution to Economic Prosperity

5th WLN—Brunei Darussalam 2000: SMEs as Global Traders

6th WLN—China 2001: Challenges and Opportunities for APEC Women in the Process of Economic Globalisation

7th WLN—Mexico 2002: Sustainable Economic Development with a Gender Perspective

8th WLN—Thailand 2003: Women Make a World of Difference: Partnerships for Gender and Development

9th WLN—Chile 2004: Women Leaders: Synergy of Diversity

10th WLN—Korea 2005: Prosperity of Women Entrepreneurs through Innovation: New Visions for Women Entr2nd WLN—Canada 1997

11th WLN—Vietnam 2006: Towards a Dynamic Community—Enhancing the Competitiveness of Women’s Business for Sustainable Development and Prosperity