Catalysing inclusive and sustainable economic growth in Southeast Asia

W1 Workplace Gender Equality 1
For Business Leaders
5

Workplace Gender Equality

Explore tools and support to leverage the benefits of workplace gender equality in your organisation.
W2 Enabling Policy Reform 1
For Policymakers
5

Enabling Policy Reforms

Uncover evidence-based insights to craft and implement policies addressing women’s economic challenges in Southeast Asia.
W3 Influencing Gender Norms 1
For Champions and Advocates
5

Campaigns and CoPs

Explore campaigns and Communities of Practice (CoPs) that support the broader adoption of gender-progressive attitudes and behaviours.
W4 Impact Investing 1
For Capital Providers
5

Gender Lens Investing

Learn how gender lens strategies and products help maximise investment potential in women-owned and -led businesses.
Our Story

Established in 2016, Investing in Women (IW) tackles one of the most critical social and economic issues of our time: gender equality.

An Australian Government-funded initiative, Investing in Women works with business leaders, investors, and policymakers to remove barriers to women’s full economic participation.

In Southeast Asia’s rapidly growing and transforming economies, gender inequality stands as a significant barrier to more sustainable and inclusive development. While progress has been made, gender gaps remain, including in economic participation.

Investing in Women supports our partners in Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam and Myanmar to advance women’s economic empowerment—building more resilient economies and more equitable societies.

Women’s economic empowerment is not only fundamental to gender equality but key to business competitiveness and productivity. The evidence clearly shows that investing in women—unlocking their skills, talent, innovation and leadership—benefits not only the women themselves but also their families, communities, workplaces and nations.

IW supports women to participate fully as employees and entrepreneurs by reducing or removing structural barriers. Together with our partners, IW works to place women at the forefront of economic development.

Our Impact

IW has been tackling women’s economic empowerment with the support of the Australian Government since 2016. Since then, IW has:

Established Business Coalitions that improve workplace gender equality in the private sector in Southeast Asia. Together these coalitions have enlisted 128 major businesses, representing over 1 million employees, to implement more equitable workplace policies and practices.

Invested AUD 15.4 million into 82 women led or owned SMEs with 10 investing partners. This investment helped catalyse over AUD 525 million of additional capital and follow-on investment funding to bridge the finance gap for women entrepreneurs.
Worked with market building partners to normalise gender lens investing in the regional investment community, driving a 3.4x increase in the number, and a 7x increase in the value of deals made with a gender lens.
Supported local partners to deliver targeted advocacy campaigns, reaching over 350 million people across Indonesia, the Philippines and Vietnam.

YEARS OF PROGRAM INNOVATION

FUNDED BY THE AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENT (IN AUD)

COMPANIES COMMITTED TO Workplace Gender Equality

EMPLOYEES REPRESENTED

CAPITAL AND INVESTMENT FUNDING CATALYSED

In Online Reach

Investing in Women – An initiative of the Australian Government

Inspire & Learn

Latest Knowledge Resources