Honiara, Solomon Islands, February 28, 2016
—IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, is helping women from the newly-formed Solomon Islands Women’s Professional Network (SIPNET) to build up their professional brands through LinkedIn. The women will be taught practical skills to set up impactful LinkedIn profiles and to use this online professional-networking resource to further their career goals.
LinkedIn representative Veronica Auld will speak to the SIPNET members in Honiara today via videoconference from IFC’s office in Sydney. After the presentation, the women will work on their own profiles, exchange feedback with their peers, and get their headshots taken by a professional photographer.
“This is a unique opportunity for the participants to learn from a LinkedIn expert about how to develop critical skills for professional promotion,” said Amy Luinstra, IFC’s Gender Lead for East Asia Pacific. “
Since Solomon Islands Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SICCI) member-businesses
have nominated the women and encouraged them and given time off work to participate, it is a signal that these companies are committing to investing in developing their female talent.”
Women’s participation in the formal labor force in the Solomon Islands is approximately half that of men. Also, very few women occupy leadership positions in the private or public sector. The costs of gender inequality are significant, with the World Bank estimating that output per worker in the region could be 7 to 18 percent higher if female entrepreneurs and workers had access to the same types of jobs and resources as men.
SIPNET is an initiative by IFC and SICCI and is funded by the Australian Government. The program is working with the private sector to promote the business case for investing in gender equality and developing practical resources to improve the recruitment, retention, and promotion of women employees.
This initiative is funded by the Pacific Partnership.
IFC’s work in the Pacific is guided by the Pacific Partnership. Australia, New Zealand and IFC are working together through the Pacific Partnership to reduce poverty in the Pacific by stimulating private sector development.
About IFC
IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, is the largest global development institution focused on the private sector in emerging markets. Working with 2,000 businesses worldwide, we use our six decades of experience to create opportunity where it’s needed most. In FY16, our long-term investments in developing countries rose to nearly $19 billion, leveraging our capital, expertise and influence to help the private sector end extreme poverty and boost shared prosperity. For more information, visit
www.ifc.org
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