The Global Platform for Action on Sourcing from Women Vendors
The Global Platform for Action on Sourcing from Women Vendors was one of the outcomes of the First Senior Executive Round-table on Sourcing from Women Vendors, held in Chongqing, China, in September 2010. This meeting brought together 27 representatives of select Fortune 500 companies, governments and institutions to deliberate a way forward that would better connect women business owners to global value-chains.
A 10-year strategy was developed to facilitate the Platform’s goal of increasing the share of corporate, government and institutional procurement from women vendors in order to bring greater economic benefit to women and their communities.
The Platform has corporate members with an annual procurement spending in excess of USD700 billion, a sellers’ network of more than 50,000 business and professional women, and a growing number of trade-support institutions across multiple sectors and countries.
Signatories to the Global Platform commit themselves to:
- Create shared value by sourcing from women vendors that offer competitive products and services;
- Promote the benefits of sourcing from women vendors, educating multinational corporations on the business case and return on investment;
- Share knowledge on policies and practices to increase sourcing from women vendors;
- Support, initiate or improve efforts to integrate women vendors into value chains; and
- Report to the Platform for Action Steering Committee on activities and impact via an annual survey.
Join the Platform along with other corporations, women business owners, governments and institutions (online registration)
Platform Brochure WVEF 2012 (English)
The Platform is led by International Trade Centre, with the support of WEConnect International. Other partners are the International Federation of Business and Professional Women (BPW), the Chongqing Foreign Trade and Economic Relations Commission (COFTEC), the International Women’s Coffee Alliance (IWCA), Quantum Leaps and SPINNA
The Third Senior Executive Roundtable on Sourcing from Women Vendors and Inaugural Women Vendors Exhibition and Forum were held on 26-29 September 2011, Chongqing, China.
300 delegates from 19 countries participated, culminating in US$14.8m worth of contracts for the supply of goods and services from women entrepreneurs.
Catalogue, newsletter
Platform Brochure 2011 (English, Chinese)