One million business opportunities for women by 2030 – Blair Foundation

Founder of the Cherie Blair Foundation for Women highlighted that her organisation’s goal is to provide some one million women with business opportunities by 2030.
Delivering remarks on a recent edition of the energy perspectives podcast was Cherie Blair, King’s Counsel and founder of the Cherie Blair Foundation for Women who highlighted that her organisation has made significant strides in empowering women, particularly in the business field over the years. On this point Blair highlighted that to date over 200,000 women have benefited from the resources offered by her organisation. “Well, so far, we’ve reached 250,000 women, so we’re not doing too badly” Blair stated.

Moreover, Blair highlighted that Guyana has made a significant contribution towards obtaining the 250,000 figure. She noted that Guyanese women, who used the HerVenture App, have seen significant growth in their businesses.
“I’m very proud, in particular, of the contribution that Guyana has made to that figure. And the work that my foundation’s been doing these last three years here in this country has been very, very important to us. Now, I’m very proud to say that one in 25 women in Guyana use our HerVenture app and the outcomes from this app are amazing. Even shortly after using the app, eight out of 10 women have improved their business outcomes” Blair asserted.
The HerVenture App was developed to equip women with the necessary skills and business training and also simultaneously develop their confidence. Additionally, Blair noted that because women are not given equal access to education and economic power, the world is missing out on $12 trillion worth of opportunities.
“Actually, when I made that statistic, which was one that came from some very respectable sources like the World Bank and McKinsey, shortly after that, actually, things got a bit worse, mainly because of the impact of COVID. But I’m pleased to say that this year, things have slightly turned a corner. So, this year, the World Economic Forum anticipates it will take 152 years before women’s economic gender gap is closed, which is actually an improvement of 17 years from last year’s estimate” she stated.
In this regard Blair encouraged women to continue empowering each other and also give back to communities. “So it’s very important to not only pay back, but also to pay forward, I think. And don’t be afraid to ask for support. Because when women come together, they are a force to be reckoned with. One of the women that we work with in our Road to Growth programme that we delivered in Nigeria described the cohort that were together as sisterpreneurs. And even several, we follow the progress after they finished the course, several years later, those women are still in their WhatsApp group and supporting each other,” she stated.
Blair also commended the Government of Guyana for implementing various initiatives geared at promoting economic gender equality. She noted that in 2021 Guyana was ranked 105th out of 156 Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries in terms of economic gender equality to date the country is ranked 47th.