Clinton Global Initiative 2009

At the 2009 Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) Annual Meeting, ExxonMobil announced plans to launch a new initiative — Technologies to Improve Women’s Economic Livelihoods — which will help identify and deploy technologies that can improve quality of life and enable women in developing countries to participate more fully in income-generating activities.  With initial partners Ashoka’s Changemakers and International Center for Research on Women (ICRW), over the next 12 months, this effort will include:

• A comprehensive study by the ICRW, resulting in a white paper which will identify existing barriers to the development and deployment of potentially beneficial technologies, as well as policy options and technology opportunities that could significantly advance the productivity and economic potential of women in developing countries.
• A global search, structured and managed by Ashoka’s Changemakers, to identify the most promising technological innovations that can improve economic opportunities for women in the developing world.   

Through this initiative, ExxonMobil will bring new research into this important field and identify promising technology opportunities.  The research program will also provide the basis for further development and prioritization of this new technology focus area of ExxonMobil’s broader program, the ExxonMobil Women’s Economic Opportunity Initiative, which aims to help increase opportunities for women in developing countries to fulfill their economic potential and serve as drivers of economic and social change in their communities.