Women spoke about the business impact of the lockdown and early containment measures, which caused them significant economic losses. Their stories revealed to me the many difficulties they faced both professionally and personally. In Bangladesh, the research focused on the social and economic impacts of COVID-19 on women-led SMEs in the city of Khulna, where I spoke to a number of women working in the clothing industry. The Asia Foundation is working on a qualitative study of the economic and social impacts of COVID-19 in seven cities in South and Southeast Asia. More than 75 percent of respondents cited a lack of financing as a challenge to adapting their businesses to COVID-19 restrictions.īeyond the economic impact, women’s personal and family lives have also felt the impact of the pandemic. The study shows that a high percentage of women SME owners have experienced falling sales, extensive employee layoffs, and major obstacles to operating their businesses due to insufficient cash flow and government restrictions. In September 2020, The Asia Foundation commissioned a study to examine the realities confronting women entrepreneurs in South Asia. ![]() The pandemic has exacerbated these challenges and revealed just how few fallback options women entrepreneurs have in times of crisis. Prevailing social norms and practices within the home and society also continue to erect barriers to their socio-economic empowerment. Women entrepreneurs face formidable obstacles, however, like a lack of access to loans and start-up capital, difficulties in accessing formal support, and restrictions on their mobility and ability to network and grow their businesses. SMEs create employment for an estimated 7.8 million people directly and provide livelihoods for 31.2 million people. In the small and medium enterprise (SME) sector, which accounts for an estimated 25 percent of Bangladesh’s GDP, women have made substantial contributions. In the last decade, women have made tremendous strides in Bangladesh, stepping out of the home to participate in the economy. The stories of Sabina and Jahanara are emblematic of the many setbacks that women entrepreneurs have experienced – in Bangladesh and beyond – during COVID-19. Like Sabina, 47-year-old Jahanara Begum, an established entrepreneur, was also forced to close her business in 2020, leaving her with few options to support her children and extended family. ![]() Months later, as the COVID-19 pandemic gripped Bangladesh and the country went into lockdown, Sabina was forced to close her fledgling business. At 28, like many young entrepreneurs in Bangladesh, Sabina hoped to turn her passion into a lucrative business, and she took out a loan to start her boutique. In the beginning of 2020, a young woman named Sabina Akhter took a step towards her dream of owning a small clothing boutique in the bustling city of Khulna in Bangladesh.
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