WE RISE Together

WE RISE Together tackles the structural gender inequities that exist within the global procurement market in which Women Owned Businesses (WOBs) secure only one per cent of spending worldwide. By introducing and advancing increased market access through supplier diversity and gender-responsive procurement (SD-GRP), WE RISE Together operates with the overall objective to empower more women to equally access, lead, and benefit from expanded market opportunities in the Mekong subregion.  

The project works across the Mekong subregion, namely in Thailand and Viet Nam, where the concept of SD-GRP is still in nascent stages of development. Despite regional and national initiatives prioritising financial inclusion of micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs), there is currently a limited amount of gender-sensitive data available to promote SD-GRP practices and policies in the project’s geographical focus areas.  

WE RISE Together will introduce SD-GRP as an opportunity to address and attempt to channel more procurement spend towards WOBs /GREs. The project will work on four interlinked outcomes:  

  • Outcome 1: More national public and private organizations are engaged in an increased number of processes and actions to influence and develop public policies and practises that promote gender-responsive procurement as a pathway for women’s economic participation. (Normative Change in the Ecosystem)
  • Outcome 2: WOBs/GREs have increased capacity to build more resilient and inclusive business models and utilise networking opportunities to better access markets. (Strengthening the Supply Side) 
  • Outcome 3: Larger public and private sector organisations have increased capacity to advocate, promote and implement SD-GRP within their organisations and industries to enable market access for WOBs/GREs. (Strengthening the Demand Side)
  • Outcome 4: More equitable market opportunities are created through connecting WOBs/GREs to larger public and private buyers. (Connecting Demand Side and Connect to Supply Side)

The project’s activities will provide evidence, information, and learning sessions to raise awareness about SD-GRP; offer technical support and training for WOBs and GREs to develop skills to build more gender-inclusive and resilient business models; and facilitate the creation of referral networks amongst WOBs. In addition, it will provide capacity building among public and private sector organisations to develop and implement SD-GRP policies and practices and focus on establishing collaboration opportunities between larger public and private sector buyers and WOBs/GREs to facilitate future market connections.

The WE RISE Together project is funded by the Mekong-Australian Partnership. Australia is committed to supporting the recovery of the Greater Mekong Subregion from COVID-19. This includes strengthening economic resilience, integration and development.

Download the WE RISE Together factsheets: