WOMEN'S ENTREPRENEURSHIP DEVELOPMENT

The promotion of women's entrepreneurship is fundamental to women’s economic empowerment and inclusive economic growth, particularly in developing economies. Much work needs to be done to create an enabling environment for women entrepreneurs and support women entrepreneurs in their aspirations to grow their businesses. Women’s entrepreneurship development requires a multi-facetted approach. Whereas many countries have experience in providing training and financial services to women entrepreneurs, these initiatives often fail to generate the expected results in the absence of a conducive environment in which women operate their businesses. Additional efforts are needed to create an enabling policy environment and to make sure that the relevant institutions and support structures favour women in their economic endeavours. This on-line training programme was delivered by leading international experts drawing on experiences from different countries in applying an integrated approach to women’s entrepreneurship development. The course brought together experts and practitioners to share and discuss the theoretical, policy and practical aspects involved. OBJECTIVES • better knowledge of policy options and practical measures to promote women’s entrepreneurship development • Enhanced capacity to design, implement and evaluate effective women’s entrepreneurship development strategies • Access to proven tools and methodologies to promote women’s entrepreneurship CONTENT The training programme was based on a wide range of learning materials, including the following ILO tools and publications: • GET Ahead for Women in Enterprise Training Package and Resource Kit • Women’s Entrepreneurship Self-Check for organizations providing business support services • Guide to Gender-Sensitive Approaches to Value Chain Development • Putting Gender at the Heart of Business Environment Reform The course was facilitated by ITC-ILO trainers with the assistance of ILO specialists and experts who brought a vast range of practical experience and in-depth knowledge in the area of women’s entrepreneurship development. The course also incorporated relevant experiences from other national and international agencies. The 2-weeks on-line training course was supported by an e-campus, that provided the participants with full access to the necessary tools, documents and interactive methodologies NUMBER OF HOURS: 20