• September 22, 2015

September 22, 2015

A new guidebook offers policy choices for promoting women’s health as a way to advance economic growth in the Asia Pacific. The APEC Healthy Women, Healthy Economic Policy Toolkit, released last week in Manila, outlines five areas of concern for women’s health in APEC’s 21 member economies, details the specific issues in those five areas, suggests actions to address those issues, and identifies who can carry out those actions (e.g., local or higher levels of government, private or public sectors).

The five areas are workplace health and safety; health access and awareness; work-life balance; sexual and reproductive health; and gender-based violence.

The immediate intended beneficiaries of the Policy Toolkit are those with the ability to influence, develop and implement policies and programs to improve women’s economic participation through better health, according to the guide. These beneficiaries may include labor, health, and gender officials in APEC member economies; the private sector; academia; and other stakeholders.

The ultimate intended beneficiaries are the 865 million women in the world that the International Labour Organization (ILO) estimates have the potential to contribute more fully to their economies.

This includes women in informal, vulnerable, and/or unregulated employment, women with disabilities, and migrant women. Nathan Associates performed underlying research, producing a Healthy Women, Healthy Economies Literature Review. This review informed the work of the APEC experts group that developed the policy guide. Nathan is supporting Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) through the project US-APEC Technical Assistance to Advance Regional Integration (US-ATAARI).

Return to news