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11,000 ASEAN WOMEN

Women-led MSMEs

Female Professionals

Female Students

About

"Women's empowerment is vital to society and their inclusion can drive business, innovation and economic resilience. We place women at the heart of our work with ASEAN."

Sarah Tiffin
UK Ambassador to ASEAN

70M

MSMEs across ASEAN. Women lead the majority. Most locked out of institutional capital.

$4.5T

Annual GDP uplift available to Asia-Pacific from advancing gender parity.

18%

Of ASEAN MSMEs that export. The untapped dividend behind the leadership gap.

THE EVIDENCE

Why this.
Why now.

Every major institutional voice - IFC, Goldman Sachs, McKinsey, the OECD, the WEF, the UK Government, and the ASEAN Committee on Women - is converging on the same signal. 11,000 ASEAN Women is the UK platform that converts that signal into a programme in ASEAN.

10Y International Finance Corps

The IFC's 2025 WEOF Report — "A Decade of Innovation, Investment, and Impact" — documents the full returns of the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Women programme across over 100 countries. Women reinvest 90% of income in their families and communities. Women-led businesses grow faster when given access to networks and capital.

9 ASEAN WISE Fellowship

The ASEAN-WISE Project (supported by Norway, the ASEAN Committee on Women, and Angels of Impact) demonstrated that ASEAN women entrepreneurs at the 'missing middle' — too big for microfinance, too small for institutional capital — respond powerfully to targeted mentoring, digital capacity, and peer network investment.

99% MSMEs

MSMEs make up 99% of all ASEAN businesses and 85% of employment — but only 18% of exports. Women-led enterprises are disproportionately in the informal sector. Regulatory compliance costs, limited digital access, and lack of network information operate simultaneously as compounded barriers.

70% Rise in per-capita income

The Asian Development Bank models a 70% rise in per-capita income within two generations from closing the gender employment gap. The OECD has published a dedicated policy toolkit specifically for ASEAN women's entrepreneurship.

How We Work

From the broken rung to the boardroom.

McKinsey identifies the 'broken rung' — the failure at first promotion to manager — as the single most consequential failure point in women's leadership pipelines globally. Our four-stage methodology targets this inflection point for ASEAN women navigating the additional complexity of dual-culture identity in a UK professional context.

Identify & Convene

We recruit each cohort through Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia networks, BritCham Vietnam and Frontier Leadership Institute pipelines, UK university ASEAN societies, and the IIA-Civic London diaspora community. Each cohort of 20–30 is selected for potential, not seniority.

Develop & Mentor

The curriculum addresses identity navigation, voice development, funding readiness, and cross-corridor network activation — the four variables that determine whether a woman breaks through the broken rung.

Connect & Deploy

Cohort members are introduced across IIA's UK–ASEAN Capital Corridor — Watson Farley & Williams, MHA, Hawksford, Dragon Capital, Index Partners — and to IIA's government relationships

Measure & Report

We track promotion rates, network formation, cross-corridor placements, and ESG credential outcomes. Annual Impact Report published each spring. Bloomberg Gender Score Track produces investor-grade gender assessments. FCDO and British Council grant reporting as applicable.

Sarah Tiffin · UK Ambassador to ASEAN
UK–ASEAN Economic Integration Programme launch · March 2025

"Women disproportionately run micro and small businesses across ASEAN, and their success is crucial to the region's economic future. Women's empowerment is vital to society and their inclusion can drive business, innovation and economic resilience."

Institutional Mandates

Aligned with UK, ASEAN and EU policy frameworks.

United Kingdom

VAWG National Emergency Strategy 2025
IIA's UK–ASEAN WPS Civic Track connects the UK Government's domestic VAWG declaration to the ASEAN Women, Peace and Security multilateral framework — the international dimension of the same commitment.
Her three-part mandate (economic opportunity, safety, representation) maps directly onto IIA 11,000 Women's three tracks. Active engagement with her office is underway.
UK–ASEAN Dialogue Partnership (1977–present)
IIA 11,000 Women is the year-round civic platform that operationalises the UK's Dialogue Partner commitment at the human capital level.
UK-ASEAN EIP Regulatory Reform Study, March 2025
The UK's own research on gender and MSME barriers in ASEAN launched by UK Ambassador Sarah Tiffin provides the evidence base for IIA 11,000 Women's programme design.

ASEAN

ASEAN Action Agenda on WEE (2017)
Priority Areas 1–3 (access to finance, markets, and skills) are the three pillars that IIA 11,000 Women's three tracks directly address.
ASEAN Declaration on Women's Entrepreneurship (2022)
IIA 11,000 Women is the UK-based delivery mechanism for this declaration's call to enhance women's access to capacity building, financial resources, and market opportunities.
ASEAN Gender Mainstreaming Strategic Framework
The ASEAN-WISE Fellowship's institutional framework. IIA 11,000 Women operates in alignment with AGMSF, connecting UK-corridor programming to the regional gender mainstreaming architecture.
ASEAN Women, Peace and Security Summit (2025)
Co-funded by the UK, hosted in Kuala Lumpur under Malaysia's ASEAN Chairmanship. IIA 11,000 Women maintains this commitment between summit cycles.

European Union

EU Gender Equality Strategy 2020–2025
The EU's commitment to equal economic participation, closing the gender leadership gap in business, and advancing women's representation targets the same structural barriers IIA 11,000 Women addresses in the ASEAN corridor.
EU SME Strategy for a Sustainable and Digital Europe
The EU's MSME strategy specifically targets women-led SMEs as a priority cohort. 11,000 ASEAN Women's Gender Score Track is directly relevant to ASEAN companies seeking EU market access and sustainability credentials.
EU-ASEAN Strategic Partnership (2020)
The EU–ASEAN Strategic Partnership elevated ASEAN to a strategic partner of the EU. Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE)
EIGE's gender mainstreaming methodology and indicators inform IIA 11,000 Women's impact measurement framework — ensuring EU-comparable data for reporting and grant applications.

Partner with the pipeline.

11,000 ASEAN Women offers three tiers of institutional partnership each designed to deliver measurable commercial, ESG, and reputational returns across the UK–ASEAN corridor.

Founding Partner

Naming rights on the IIA Pipeline Track cohort for 2026–27
Seat on the 11,000 ASEAN Women Advisory Board with bilateral introductions across IIA's Capital Corridor
Gender Score Track activation investor-grade ESG assessments for your ASEAN portfolio
Priority access to programme alumni for recruitment and board placement
Logo on all programme materials, press releases, and events
Co-branded briefing note: "How UK–ASEAN Trade Can Deliver for Women"
Featured at ASEAN Women Power and Money annual conference

BECOME A FOUNDING PARTNER

Programme Sponsor

Named sponsorship of one IIA Women flagship event — ASEAN Women Power and Money conference, National Week leadership session, or Cohort Graduation
Logo and credit across event materials, press, and IIA Women digital channels
Attendance at advisory sessions and access to programme alumni network
Gender Score Track activation for your ASEAN operations
Co-branded case study in Annual Impact Report

BECOME A SPONSOR

Track Partner

Associated partnership with one programme track (IIA Pipeline, Gender Score, or WPS Civic Track)
Brand acknowledgment in track-specific communications and event materials
Invitation to track graduation and IIA-Civic London events
Access to 11,000 ASEAN Women partner and alumni network
Featured in IIA Women Annual Impact Report

EXPRESS INTEREST

Sponsorship

Grant Pathways

11,000 ASEAN Women is pursuing grant co-funding from FCDO (Human Rights & Gender Programming), British Council (Cultural Diplomacy & Leadership), and EU partnership funds. Government and institutional co-funders are invited to contact our policy team to discuss co-funding structures under the ASEAN Dialogue Partner framework.