Women at a sewing shop measure fabric.
In Uzbekistan, MSMEs play an outsized role in the country’s economy - according to official data, they are the biggest source of employment, providing a full 78% of jobs.
Photo:UNDP Uzbekistan

Galvanizing MSMEs worldwide by supporting women and youth entrepreneurship and resilient supply chains

Multiple simultaneous shocks and crises have disturbed the global working environment for entrepreneurs and micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs). In addition, conflicts, commodity dependence, geopolitical tensions, and pandemics drive social and economic instability, making MSMEs extremely vulnerable to rising inflation and supply chain disruptions.

Among the most vulnerable, women- and youth-owned enterprises are often at risk of external shocks. This is when the percentage and overall number of business formations by women and youth are increasing worldwide. However, facing limited access to affordable finance, capacity-building support, partnership networks, and global markets, women and young entrepreneurs need help to overcome the numerous challenges that frequently stifle the growth of their businesses, confining many of them to informality or necessity entrepreneurship.

Policies that strengthen capacities and support MSMEs development and entrepreneurship for women and youth need to be at the forefront to address those challenges, lower and remove barriers, and provide an operating environment for women- and youth-owned businesses to grow, thus contributing to the full achievement of SDGs 1, 4, 5, 8, 9, 10 and the “leave no one behind” promise of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its Sustainable Development Goals.

This MSMEs day will also focus on supporting resilient supply chains to ensure workers and the environment benefit. Supply chains are a critical component of global trade and commerce, and conflicts, disasters, and pandemics can quickly impact their functioning, increasing costs and making transactions more difficult. Therefore, policymakers and businesses must join forces to ensure economically viable, socially, and environmentally sustainable supply chains.

Invitation for MSMEs 2023 Day event at UNHQ in New York

2023 Event

27 June 2023
UNHQ, New York
9:30 AM - 5:30 PM EST

Join us for MSME Day 2023, a dynamic event dedicated to celebrating the crucial role of Micro-, Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (MSMEs) in achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
 

Concept Note
Agenda
Follow the livestream on UN Web TV:
Part I | Part II

 

Register

Background

MSMEs account for 90% of businesses, 60 to 70% of employment and 50% of GDP worldwide. As the backbone of societies everywhere they contribute to local and national economies and to sustaining livelihoods, in particular among the working poor, women, youth, and groups in vulnerable situations.

MSMEs hold the potential to transform economies, foster job creation, and promote equitable economic growth if given adequate support. The MSME Day event aims to highlight their pivotal role and explore opportunities for their further advancement.

The United Nations General Assembly designated 27 June as “Micro-, Small, and Medium-sized Enterprises Day” (A/RES/71/279) to raise awareness of the tremendous contributions of MSMEs to the achievement of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Did you know?

  • 600 million jobs will be needed by 2030 to absorb the growing global workforce, which makes SME development a high priority for many governments around the world.
  • In emerging markets, most formal jobs are generated by SMEs, which create 7 out of 10 jobs.
  • Access to finance is disproportionately difficult for smaller firms in the least developed countries (LDCs), with 41 percent of SMEs in LDCs reporting access to finance as a major constraint to their growth and development, by comparison to 30 percent in middle-income countries (MICs) and only 15 percent in high-income countries (HICs).

Source: World Bank

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