ONOW receives a WEP Award

Runner-up in the SME Champion category for a Gender Responsive Marketplace

Late last year, ONOW was recognized for its achievements in promoting gender equality and empowering women and girls at the Women’s Empowerment Principles (WEP) Awards. The annual awards, which are organized by the United Nations Global Compact and the UN Women, aim to recognize and celebrate organizations that have demonstrated a strong commitment to gender equality and the empowerment of women.

ONOW was among the winners in the “Gender Responsive Marketplace” category, which recognizes organizations that have taken concrete steps to support the economic empowerment of women as actors and leaders in commerce. ONOW was selected for its innovative digital programming to support women entrepreneurs, which provided them with guidance on business model development, access to finance, individualized coaching, and other resources to help them grow their businesses.

ONOW’s award resulted from the 2022 work on the Rapid Relief for Women Entrepreneurs Project with UN Women.

• 958 women participated in this program
• 346 women received individual coaching on their business and financial management challenges.
• 170 women began using a digital financial service.
• 63 new business models were created as a result of the program.

Learn more about the program from Lae Lae, one of the participants!

In addition to receiving the WEP award, ONOW was also invited to participate in the awards ceremony on Nov 23rd, 2022. ONOW’s Co-founder and Managing Director shared details on the program which earned the WEP recognition, highlighted ONOW’s experiences and lessons learned in promoting women’s economic empowerment, and thanked the entrepreneurs and team members who make our work possible. You can watch ONOW’s acceptance speech here.

The WEP Awards ceremony was held virtually in November 2022, and was attended by representatives of organizations from around the world. In addition to ONOW, the 21 other winners included organizations selected from a pool of more than 500 applicants from 19 countries in the Asia-Pacific.

Overall, the WEP Awards provide a valuable opportunity for ONOW to showcase its achievements and share its experiences with a global audience. We are proud to be recognized for our efforts to promote gender equality and empower women and girls, and are committed to continuing this marketplace work in the years ahead.