| Women’s economic and entrepreneurship empowerment Hub | |||
| Name of responsible organization: BWF | |||
| Website: www.bwf.ps | |||
| NATIONAL OR LOCAL | Local | ||
| Starting year | 2009 | End year | Still running |
| short description BWF has developed a holistic business development approach based on the cumulative experience of BWF over the 12 years working in support of women-owned businesses in different sectors and from different backgrounds. The holistic demand-driven business development approach includes a capacity building & skill development program, one-on-one coaching and mentoring on-the-job of training, developing competitive products, branding and creation of creative designs, providing seed funding, access to information, access to finance, and marketing (identification of local marketing channels, developing marketing strategies, creating and participating at local, regional and international networking platforms and enhancing access to export chains). In addition, BWF introduces role models, women’s champions, and advocates for women’s issues at all levels. This holistic approach contributed to enhancing the sustainability of businesses and access to economic opportunities through job creation and income generation, thus promoting women’s potential leaders and agents of change. |
What kind of activity does this measure finance?
| Creation of new businesses | Provide technical support not financial |
| Strengthening of existing businesses | Yes |
| Specific investments – specify the type (i.e. innovation, research, environmental transition, hiring, internationalization, purchase of goods) | Yes, Women only |
| Training activities | Yes |
| Other (specify) | Yes/No |
What type of financing is it?
| Low-interest loan (indicate the repayment time and, if present, the requirement for collateral) | No |
| Non-repayable grant (indicate the percentage of the non-repayable fund) | Yes 100% |
| Tax credit | No |
| Other (specify) | Part as a Middleman with financing institutions |
How does the activation of the measure work?
| One-stop means | Yes |
| Call with closing date | Yes |
Financial entity of the measure (indicate the resources allocated)
| Overall amount | 850k$ |
| % facilitation for each recipient | 2,000-6,000 depending on the business’s needs, according to a given criteria. |
| Minimum amount that can be financed | 2000 |
| Maximum amount that can be financed | 6000 |
| Origin of financial resources (European, State, Regional Authority, Municipal authority, other) | Donors such as the Government of Canada, UN Women … a lot of donors, Spanish cooperation, Italian cooperation- AICS |
Type of funded social structure (indicate if belonging to a specific category is required in order, to access the measure)
| Female | Over 50 | Unemployed (specify any type) | Disadvantaged groups (specify type) | Youth (18-29) | Other (specify) | |
| Individual businesses | 80% | 20-30% | Wasalni program supports unemployed women | 2% | 20% | |
| Growing businesses | 20% |
Does the measure provide for accompaniment and training or only financial support?
| Financial support + accompaniment/training | Yes, start with capacity building and technical support before providing access to finance |
| Only Financial support | No |
Is the measure considered a good practice and as such replicable in other national and / or international contexts?
| YES | Yes |
| NO |
How many initiatives have been financed in the last 3 years and for what economic amount?
| Number of initiatives 6 Initiatives with financing | Total economic amount Approximately 700k$ (not only for grants but access to finance is also a component) |
