A/HRC/36/53 economic development, are key to preventing internal and external conflicts when defining economic activities or indigenous business. 60 D. Challenges facing indigenous women, youth and persons with disabilities 90. Overall, there is a lack of research into the experience of female indigenous entrepreneurship. However, what evidence there is suggests that women are more risk adverse and more likely to start a business out of necessity than men. Indigenous female entrepreneurism is often a reaction to lack of opportunity in the labour market for females (displaced opportunity). 61 Evidence from the World Bank’s Regional Programme on Enterprise Development supports that view, suggesting that indigenous women’s marginal social position acts as a driving force to become self-employed.62 One of the challenges is how to articulate the value that women bring to the economy, both formally and informally. There is a strong social bias about what indigenous women are capable of and what sort of industry they should work in, with very little in the way of business mentorship available for indigenous women in many countries. 63 Indigenous women are also frequently excluded from the labour market, or are employed informally with salaries below legal norms and without social protection. Furthermore, indigenous women often bear a double burden of household work in addition to their work outside the home. 91. In African countries, indigenous women entrepreneurs have more difficulty than male entrepreneurs in obtaining credit. That has been attributed to the small size of their businesses, as well as the lack of collateral off ered by entrepreneurs. Public sector banks are often focused on government expenditure, while the private banks are oligopolistic in nature and concentrate on minimizing risk.64 92. In Canada, a recent study was conducted in order to find ways to empower indigenous women to become entrepreneurs. 65 The Government of Canada is directly assisting women to become entrepreneurs, with 25 per cent of recipients of the Canadian Indigenous Entrepreneurship System being indigenous women. 66 93. In Mexico, a recent study found that the financial system and the traditional banking sector are not inclusive in terms of providing credit and other financial services. The lack of financial services within reach of vulnerable sectors, including women, young persons and indigenous persons, has contributed to inequality and hampers their ability to exercise other rights, such as the rights to food, housing, work, health and education.67 94. Indigenous persons with disabilities are among the most disadvantaged people in the world, although there is insufficient data worldwide on that subset of the indigenous population. They often experience multiple barriers to taking part in meaningful activities, particularly in relation to employment and business activities. Young indigenous people aged 15-24 face additional challenges in establishing business enterprises due to their age and the lack of intergenerational wealth they inherit compared to other young non60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 See, for example, Governança e Bem Viver Indígena: Planos de Gestão Territorial e Ambiental das Terras Indígenas do Alto e Médio Rio Negro, vol. 2, p. 8. Available from https://issuu.com/institutosocioambiental/docs/governanca_2_pgs_01a24_web. Sonya Pearce, “Indigenous women and entrepreneurship in New South Wales, Australia”, PhD dissertation, University of Technology, Sydney Business School, 2015. Wim A. Naudé and J.J.D. Havenga, “An overview of African entrepreneurship and small business research”, in Léo-Paul Dana and Robert B. Anderson, eds., International Handbook of Research on Indigenous Entrepreneurship (Cheltenham, United Kingdom, Edward Elgar Publishing Limited, 2007), pp. 28-45. Laurie Buffalo, presentation to the expert seminar on good practices and challenges for indigenous peoples’ entrepreneurship. Naude and Havenga, “An overview of African entrepreneurship and small business research”. See “Creating a new narrative: empowering indigenous women through entrepreneurship”. Available from www.impaktcorp.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/Creating-a-New-Narrative-1.pdf. See the statement made by Canada at the tenth session of the Expert Mechanism. See the submission from Mexico. 19