Economies grow faster and are more productive when more women participate in the labour market. Studies show that if as many women were employed as men, the global GDP would increase by more than 26% by 2025. The IMF found that employing more women in general results in increased productivity and diversity of viewpoints. For businesses, this diversity of viewpoints has been shown to increase creativity in generating new ideas and solutions, leading to improved financial performance. Additionally, women who perform tasks such as water collection and livestock keeping have high levels of local environmental knowledge that businesses can benefit from in their greening of operations. Initiatives such as the ILO’s Women’s Entrepreneurship Development Programme work to empower women in developing countries and support them in starting and growing businesses.