Socio-Economic Rights Toolkit and Guidelines for Women Entrepreneurs

Glean Asia was contracted by Pact to create tools and guidelines for organizations that work with women entrepreneurs to mainstream awareness of socio-economic rights (SER) in their activities. The goal was to empower women entrepreneurs in Cambodia and help them understand their rights and the services available to access these rights. Glean's team, which included a project lead, a design lead, a legal specialist, a facilitator, a translator, and a project associate, employed a participatory research approach to identify the barriers and opportunities women entrepreneurs face in accessing their rights.

The research approach consisted of two group sessions and key informant interviews. The group research session was facilitated with Glean's partner organization Transparency International Cambodia and through the Cambodian Women's Entrepreneur Association (CWEA). The discussions and ideation processes took place in the Khmer language, facilitated by Glean staff, whose first language is Khmer. The key informant interviews took place in English and involved stakeholders from organizations that serve women entrepreneurs in Cambodia. Through these sessions, Glean gained a clear understanding of the structural aspects of the need for SER, the experience of accessing services for women entrepreneurs, the relational dynamic between women entrepreneurs and organizations, and the way in which needs are met through those relationships.

The research identified that women entrepreneurs do not think of their needs in terms of rights but rather as a means of pursuing their aims as businesspeople. This led to the conclusion that the most relevant and useful way of presenting women entrepreneurs with their rights is in terms of the services through which the government provides access to these rights. Glean focused on designing visually appealing and static tools that would be understandable by USAID WE Act partner organizations and women entrepreneurs, regardless of their current technical expertise. The toolkit was divided into tools for women entrepreneurs and tools for organizations, with no prescribed usage. Users were encouraged to review the kit and decide which tools were most relevant or valuable to their needs and experience.

After the finalization of the toolkit and guide, Glean delivered a training of trainers (ToT) remotely to the WE Act team, enabling them to take ownership of the toolkit and guide and use them effectively across the life of the WE Act project. Testing took place in a group setting similar to the group research sessions but focused on the usage needs, capacities, and norms of WE Act partner organizations. Testing allowed Glean to map clearly how their research findings could be integrated into the toolkit and guidelines' design and to validate conceptual assumptions made to meet the needs identified through research.

Glean's human-centered design approach enabled the team to identify the needs and experiences of women entrepreneurs regarding their socio-economic rights and create a toolkit and guide that could be used effectively by WE Act partner organizations and women entrepreneurs. The approach allowed the team to engage with the intended users of the tools and ideate solutions that met their needs. Overall, Glean's work with Pact in Cambodia served as an example of how human-centered design can be used to empower marginalized communities and support their access to resources and rights.

Results/Outputs

• Glean provided tools and guidelines for organizations working with women entrepreneurs to mainstream awareness of socio-economic rights (SER) in their activities.
• The tools and guidelines were designed using a human-centered design (HCD) approach, working directly with the intended users of the tools and with women entrepreneurs.
• A training of trainers (ToT) was delivered remotely to the WE Act team to enable them to take ownership of the toolkit and guide and use them effectively across the life of the WE Act project.