The Policymakers Toolkit project was initiated by the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) under the Catalyzing Women’s Entrepreneurship (CWE) Programme, in partnership with the ASEAN Coordinating Committee on Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (ACCMSME) to advocate women entrepreneur-centric policies and initiatives in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) region and to strengthen the entrepreneurial ecosystems that foster women’s entrepreneurship.

The ultimate purpose of the Toolkit is to provide a framework and methodology for integrating women entrepreneur-centric policies and provisions in national micro, small and medium enterprise (MSME) policies and action plans. It will assist policymakers, particularly from ministries and agencies responsible for MSME development in assessing the development of women’s entrepreneurship at the national level and through the completion of the selfassessment process in developing insight on actions to be taken to strengthen policy support and develop a positive ecosystem for women’s entrepreneurship.