Women Entrepreneurs in Rural Areas

UN Women: National Program on the Promotion of Green Inclusive Production Chains Managed by Women Entrepreneurs in Rural Areas

 
Partner(s)

The Presidential Secretariat for Women’s Affairs (SEPREM), The Ministry of the Economy (MINECO), the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Food (MAGA) and the Ministry of the Environment and Natural Resources (MARN), The University of Rafael Landívar (IDIES, IARNA), The Guatemalan Exporters’ Association (AGEXPORT), Foundation for Development and Conservation (FUNDAECO), Fundación Solar, Rainforest Alliance, The Nature Conservancy (TNC).

UN Women, the Tropical Agricultural Research and Higher Education Center (CATIE), the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA), the World Bank, The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)

 
Description/achievement of initiative

Strengthening the capacities of women entrepreneurs in the framework of a green economy, through providing comprehensive, inter-institutional support; generating employment and income and improving living conditions.

Increasing income, decent employment, development of human capital in business management, mitigation of environmental impact of economic activity, increased investment and access to assets, and recognition of women’s contributions to economic development, and hence, an improvement in economic conditions.
Contributing towards eradicating poverty and malnutrition, economic and political empowerment of women, improvement in food security, decrease in maternal and child mortality through increased nutritional intake and the boosting of local economies.

 
Implementation methodologies
 

The project joins together key actors who have committed to making their existing resources and structures available for use.

The flagship project will concentrate on rural development, including improving food security. Activities will be implemented through the Service Centers for Women Entrepreneurs (CSEM) in 7 departments. Local public-private partnerships will work with groups of women in fields related to economic development. The multi-sectoral Consortium provides advisory services and accompanies governmental mechanisms in the implementation of the project.

The CSEMs are territorial-level structures, supported by UN Women through the Women and Local Economic Development program (MyDEL) that provide technical and financial services to support women’s businesses. The CSEMs facilitate the application of national and regional programs for micro and small enterprises at the local level; and promote the advancement of gender equality within the economy, channel local demands and increase the responsibility of institutions and programs.

The CSEMs, with the support of involved organizations and institutions, will identify groups and associations of women involved in, or with potential for involvement in productive activities with up-scaling potential, and provide them with technical, organizational, entrepreneurial and financial assistance. The project will emphasize identifying existing markets and establishing contacts to direct buyers.

DELIVERABLES

Deliverable	Date
Mobilization of 4,000,000 USD to implement the flagship project of the Programme in 7 prioritized departments of Guatemala	2015
Increased income for women, especially in rural areas	2015
Increased number of small businesses that apply measures to mitigate environmental impact	2015

RESOURCES

Type	Details
Staff / Technical expertise	For each project to be included in the Program, the organizations that form the Consortium devote between 5 and 40 of the time of their human resources present in the territories of implementation that possess the necessary expertise to complete the actio
In-kind contribution	All organizations that form the Consortium use their relevant expertise, information and knowledge products produced to establish baselines and feasibility studies for each project to be implemented within the Programme.
In-kind contribution	All members of the Consortium offer their infrastructure (office space, equipment) in the target territories to be used for the efficient implementation of each project.
In-kind contribution	The members of the Consortium organize periodic events to generate useful information to ensure the efficient implementation and coordination of the Program and the planned actions of each of the projects implemented.

Sustainable Development