Women for Integrity Series (WISe) – Launch & Dialogue

Various reasons have been adduced by researchers for women’s low involvement in corrupt practices especially in the business ecosystem. Income from female owned businesses, mostly the SME’s, are major sources for family upkeep, and owners are less likely to risk their family income sources to the consequences of corruption. The society holds women to higher moral standards, expecting women to hold the morals of society together. Women thus suffer more punishment than men in the form of social/gender discrimination when suspected or caught to be involved in corrupt activities.

The above foregrounds the general assertion that most women are risk-averse due to their social roles and expectations. They are more likely to conform to acceptable rules of operation to avoid stereotyping.
In Ghana, there is a growing community of young women entrepreneurs who engage daily in the business ecosystem with its associated facilitation and collusive corrupt practices. These entrepreneurs encounter administrative and procurement challenges in their daily work life. Thus, a platform for women to talk about these issues and proffer solutions to navigate such situations and be change agents is crucial for a responsible business environment.

The Alliance for Integrity has instituted the Women for Integrity Series (WISe) platform, which aims to offer women an avenue to engage and exchange thoughts on good practices in anti-corruption and corporate integrity. In collaboration with the National Board for Small Scale Industries and the Ghana Integrity Initiative, the Alliance for Integrity is launching and organising its maiden (virtual) WISe event themed “The woman as an anti-corruption agent – the obstacles, challenges and opportunities” to afford women entrepreneurs, women in both the public and private sector an opportunity to:

• Contribute to the topic of anti-corruption, compliance and integrity
• Explore and harness practical solutions to address general and peculiar obstacles in their everyday work life and deal with regulatory and compliance issues.

This virtual event is open to Female Entrepreneurs, Women CEOs and Executive Directors, Women owned SMEs, Start-ups, and Female Employees, Female Compliance Managers, Officers, Women in Academia and the General Public. It will be hosted on Microsoft Teams.