On the 16th of March 2023 Athena project partners organize the final project conference on the topic of “Entrepreneurship as a path to socio-economic inclusion of migrant women” to present and discuss with European stakeholders and policy makers the project results including the policy recommendations and actions plans to be implemented to support and improve the inclusion of migrant women entrepreneurs.
The event will hybrid (in presence and online) and simultaneously translated to German and Spanish.
Agenda
The event will be moderated by Ms Katja Legisa, Entrepreneurship Director at the Digital Leadership Institute9:30h – 10:00h Registration10:00h – 10:15h Introduction & Welcome
Mr Stefano Mallia, President of the Employers’ Group of the European Economic and Social Committee
Mr Pablo Morales, Coordinator of the Athena project, Chamber of Commerce of Seville
10:15h – 11:00h – Athena Project outcomes and findings:
Analysis of the needs of migrant women towards entrepreneurship across Europe and good practices identified – Presented by Ms Paola Andrisani, Project officer at Nova Onlus
Lessons learned from the implementation of business services for migrant women – Presented by Ms Anna Borowa, Project officer, IHK-Projektgesellschaft mbH
11:00h – 11:30h Coffee break11:30h – 12:30h – Expert panel discussion 1: Policy priorities for the inclusion of migrant women entrepreneursWhat actions should the EU take to facilitate the integration of migrant women entrepreneurs? Policy recommendations from the experts and ATHENA project
Moderated by Ms Cheryl Novak, Research Associate at the Hellenic Foundation for European & Foreign Policy
Ms Maria-Helena De Felipe, Member of the European Economic and Social Committee and Spokesperson of the SMEs category
Dr. Sinem Yilmaz – integration Policy Analyst at Migration Policy Group
12:30h – 14:00h – Networking lunch14:00h – 14:45h – Expert panel discussion 2: Opportunities or obstacles? Recommendations addressing the challenges faced by migrant women entrepreneursWhat steps should be taken and by which stakeholders in order to facilitate the financial and legal integration of new migrant women entrepreneurs?
Ms Mamen Soria, Entrepreneurship expert at the Chamber of Commerce of Seville
Ms Loubna Azghoud, Expert in digital economy, gender equality and entrepreneurship strategy
Ms Tina Marquart, consultant at Jumpp Ihr Sprungbrett in die Selbständigkeit, Frauenbetriebe e. V.
Ms Rosy Cascella, Camera di Commercio Bari – Progetto Futurae
14:45h – 15:30h – Success stories of women entrepreneurs
Moderated by Ms Loredana Bucseneanu, Development Director at the Digital Leadership Institute
Ms Sofiia Shevchuk, Founder of VONA, Consultant, Researcher and Project Manager in Climate, Gender and Security
Ms Magna Solange Dos Santos , Entrepreneur in the hospitality sector
Ms Albina Savciuc, Entrepreneur in the sustainable jewellery sector
Ms Viviana Santana, Entrepreneur in external services to hotels
Blessing Ayomonsuru, Entrepreneur in trading ethnic food products
15:30h – 16:00h – AMIF future opportunities Focus group
Moderated by Mr Pablo Morales, Coordinator of the Athena project, Chamber of Commerce of Seville
Mr Juan Guerrero Caballero – General Manager and Head of the Department of International R& D Projects at INCOMA
Ms Ursula Hoenich – Directorate-General for Migration and Home Affairs of the European Commission
Ms Carmela Cotrone – Policy Expert
16:00 – 16:15 Closing of the conference
Please note that registration is mandatory for attending the event: https://www.eventbrite.be/e/entrepreneurship-as-a-path-to-socio-economic-inclusion-of-migrant-women-tickets-535756521177. Your personal data will be shared with the European Economic and Social Committee Visitors Office in order to grant you access to the building on the day of the event.
The event is organized with the support of the Employers’ Group of the European Economic and Social Committee .
For more info about the project visit www.athenaproject.net and the Facebook and Instagram page.
28th of February 2023 marked the official closure of the project “We4Change: Girls and Women Connecting for Environmental Change” aimed at engaging, connecting and empowering young girls and women with digital and innovation skills, increase civic engagement and unlock their changemaking potential to engage in society and have an active role in addressing the challenges posed by climate change.
Over the past two years, partners Digital Leadership Institute (BE), Stimmuli for Social Change (GR), Empow’Her (FR), TEKEDU (MD) and ZERO (PT) have worked together to achieve this mission and had the following results:
The We4Change Changemakers Event Curriculum: a series of educational materials to serve as examples of workshops that can be organized during a We4Change Changemakers Event to develop the skills promoted by the project: digital, social innovation, entrepreneurship, leadership and environmental awareness skills. It includes the specific methodology to prepare each workshop, but also other elements that can be used when organizing a Changemakers Event, such as working with mentors and coaches, and information on the practicalities of organizing the events. The curriculum can be downloaded for free in five languages: English, French, Greek, Portuguese and Romanian.
Handbook for Trainers and Youth Workers on Running a Successful We4Change Changemakers Event: complementing the curriculum, this handbook aims to support trainers and youth workers – including those that may have never applied before gender mainstreaming tools – to organize effectively a We4Change Changemakers Event, to drive active citizenship and empower girls and young women with digital and environmental awareness skills to become the future changemakers of their community. It introduces the guiding principles of the We4Change concept, values and philosophy, describes the competences that trainers and youth workers, as well as participants will apply for the different activities, and includes all practical information needed to organize a successful We4Change Changemakers Event. The handbook can be downloaded for free in five languages: English, French, Greek, Portuguese and Romanian.
Partners organized a We4Change “Train the Trainers” workshop in March 2022 training over 30 youth workers to apply the We4Change principles and methodology to run a successful Changemakers Event in their communities.
Partners organized a total of 14 We4Change Changemakers Events in their countries, with more than 100 girls and young women participating, to inspire them to ideate and design collectively solutions to problems encountered in their environments with the support of other stakeholders from the local communities.
Each partner organized a dissemination event to share about the results of the project and discuss how other stakeholders can use them to achieve the project’s objective.
All the results can be found and downloaded for free on the project website: http://we4change.eu/.
Thank you to the partners, stakeholders, girls and young women for participating to the project activities during the past two years, and supporting us to be changemakers for a sustainable future! Thank you also to the Erasmus+ Programme of the European Union for the support to make this international collaboration possible!
Join us on the 16th of February 2023 for the eventGIRLS AND WOMEN CONNECTING FOR ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGE – ROUNDTABLE DISCUSSIONS to exchange ideas and best practices on how to foster girls’ and young women’s sense of initiative for environmental action and improve their active citizenship skills and social innovation mindsets. Ultimately, the aim is to create synergies and open up opportunities for collaboration among the participants.
What you’ll gain?
Brainstorm with experts and practitioners on key strategies promoting greater participation of girls and young women in strategic, innovative ESTEAM (Entrepreneurship & Arts powered by STEM) sectors.
Gain insight into the experiences and lessons learned by other organizations and stakeholders and take these best practices back to your community.
Find opportunities of collaboration with a wide network of similar organizations.
What is the format of the roundtable discussions?
There will be four discussion tables set-up, each covering a topic (explained below). Participants can chose the tables they want to join for a 30 minutes discussion, and share their knowledge and suggestions on how to empower girls and young women as changemakers in our society. Participants are encouraged to be as specific as possible, to raise issues that arise in their day-today activities, and actionable ideas for better paths forwards. A follow-up session will present the main takeaways from the roundtable discussions.
Key outcomes
Following the event, we will gather the key insights in a Recommendations Paper and share it with all participants and stakeholders in our network.
Engage and connect community members to collaborate for future initiatives for the benefit of girls and women.
Opportunities for networking with like-minded professionals.
Discussion topics
TOPIC 1: Skills development for youth towards the Digital and Green transformations
Questions to consider: as civil society organizations and providers of non-formal education, how can we ensure young people gain a swift access to the requisite skills to enable them to be part of the solutions and to navigate the social, economic, and environmental challenges the world faces? What kind of skills and knowledge should we focus on? And how to include the gender lens in this process?
TOPIC 2: Gender mainstreaming in youth strategies
Questions to consider: What are the main challenges and opportunities of gender mainstreaming? How to strengthen the dialogue between civil society and policy makers to integrate gender perspective into the preparation, design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of policies, regulatory measures and spending programmes?
TOPIC 3: Best practices for impact: Youth – Gender inclusion – Environmental action
Questions to consider: What actionable ways to build gender equality and sustainability? What are the practices and tools you identified in your activities to improve the capabilities of civil society organizations for supporting more effectively their target groups and increase their impact?
TOPIC 4: Opportunities for cooperation for organizations working on youth, gender and environmental topics
Questions to consider: what are the needs of civil society organizations in terms of skills development, engagement capabilities or funding? what opportunities for collaboration are there and how to ensure they are accessible for all stakeholders?
Agenda
5:00 PM: Welcome and presentation of the We4Change project
5:30 PM: Roundtable Discussions
6:00 PM: Discussion on the main takeaways from each roundtable
6:30 PM: Networking dinner
Download here the brochure of the event.
For more information about the “We4Change: Girls and Women Connecting for Environmental Change” visit the project website: http://we4change.eu/
As Policy Chair and Community Councilmember for the WEgate project promoting women-led entrepreneurship in Europe, DLI Director Cheryl Miller also leads the WEgate Thematic Group on Women Entrepreneurs and the Digital Transition (“Digital Transition TG”).
Over the course of 2022, the Digital Transition TG gathered to analyse and synthesise the impact of the digital transition on women entrepreneurs in Europe. Outcomes and recommendations from this work which address Ethics in AI, Gender and Cybersecurity, Tech-readiness of Women-led Startups, and the Gender Gap in Digital Skills, are captured in a policy brief published by the WEgate project on 22 January 2023.
Congratulations for this terrific outcome to WEgateWomen Entrepreneurs and the Digital Transition Thematic Group members, Leïla Maidane, Isabel Bustos and Ms. Miller, under project leadership by Emilija Andonova and Gabriela Kostovska Bogoeska.
From the WEgate website:
One of the aims of WEgate is to increase the visibility of women entrepreneurs and to promote discussion on important topics for improving the conditions for women’s entrepreneurship development. To address critical areas of interest in women’s entrepreneurship development, dedicated WEgate Thematic groups (TGs) are formed as ad-hoc groups within the WEgate Community. The third WEgate TG is dedicated to Digital transition, analysing the challenges faced by women in the digital arena.
This policy brief summarizes the findings of the WEgate thematic group on women’s entrepreneurship policy. It highlights the key challenges and recommendations forpolicy-making in four areas: gender mainstreaming, evidence-based policy-making, finance and funding for women entrepreneurs, and stakeholders engagement in policy development. For each policy area, recommendations are being proposed, targeting policymakers at the European and national levels.
Download the WEgate Women Entrepreneurs and the Digital Transition Policy Brief (PDF) here.
As part of the We4Change “Girls and Women connecting for environmental change” Erasmus+ international program, in November and December 2022, the We4Change Changemakers Fest is coming to Belgium!
Three We4Change Changemaking events, will bring girls and young women together with experts, trainers and business coaches, in order to develop their digital and innovation skills, increase civic engagement and unlock their changemaking potential to address climate change and drive environmental transformation.
What are the We4Change Changemaking events?
We4Change Changemakers are “hack for good” events where young women with an entrepreneurial mindset, trainers and subject experts come together during a two-day intense marathon in order to solve specific challenges posed by climate and environmental change encountered in their communities. The events include hands-on activities, training on digital, innovation and environmental awareness skills, problem-solving and co-creation of prototypes, as well as a pitching session by the changemaking teams.
Who can participate?
The events are open to all girls and women* who want to contribute to prosperous, cohesive and sustainable societies! Participants are not required to have prior digital or innovation skills. Your curiosity and commitment to address the challenges posed by climate and environmental change are all you need!
*Anyone who identifies as a girl or woman.How will you benefit from this event?
You will learn new skills and information to bring into your daily life: a mindset to stay open to change and innovate, learn about how climate change affects particularly girls and women, what solutions are out there to tackle them and how can you be more active in supporting your local community;
You will acquire digital, business development and innovation skills through hands-on activities, co-creation of prototypes and pitching workshops;
Join an international community of like-minded girls and women, including experts, activists, coaches and mentors dedicated to supporting you to achieve your changemaking potential.
When are the We4Change Changemaking events taking place?
The We4Change Changemakers Fest is organized as a series of three events with specific themes linked to climate and environmental challenges:
19-20 November 2022 – We4Change: Girls and Women Connecting for Sustainable Consumption
26-27 November 2022 – We4Change: Girls and Women Connecting for Smart Cities and Mobility
3-4 December 2022 – We4Change: Girls and Women Connecting for Clean Energy & Resource Efficiency
What is the format of the We4Change Changemaking events?Below is the general format for each event. Participants will briefly receive the exact agenda with the name of the trainers and speakers for the event they register for.Day 1
9:30: Registration and coffee
10:00 – 11:00 : Introduction of the event thematic by Digital Leadership Institute & inspirational speech
11:00 – 13:00 : Workshop 1 on digital skills
13:00 – 14:00: Lunch break
14:00 – 15:00: Project proposals, ideation & team selection
16:00 – 18:00: Project work
Day 2
9:30: Registration, coffee & review of day 1
10:00 – 12:00 Workshop 2 on Design Thinking
12:00 – 16:00 Project work with coaches (1h of working lunch included)
16:00 – 17:00 Project presentations with jury
17:00 Feedback session and closing ceremony
How to participate to the We4Change Changemaking events?The participation to the events is free of charge. However, places are limited so you are required to fill-in this application form: https://forms.gle/YxPP1EV5kU8uqYQe9You can also register via the dedicated Eventbrire page here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/we4change-fest-girls-and-women-connecting-for-environmental-change-tickets-461175176367
The organizing team will send a confirmation email to confirm your participation.
How else can you contribute?
If you would like to be part of to the organization of events, we are happy to receive your support! Below are some ways you can contribute:
Be or suggest us an inspirational speaker
Volunteer to hold one of the workshops during the events (digital skills, business training, a training linked to the event thematic)
Volunteer to do business coaching during the hackathons
Volunteer as jury member for the pitching competition
Follow-up support: coaching and mentoring after the event for the winning teams.
Fill-in this partner application form and let us know how would you like to be involved: https://forms.gle/zcPnzppq1kjdm9He9Selected organizing partners will receive a 1h online training on the main aspects of organizing a successful We4Change Changemakers event.
Frequently asked questions
I can’t stay the whole time, can I still participate?
Of course! We realize that a weekend is a long time and people may need to attend to other commitments.
What if I don’t have any digital or business skills?
You are still welcome! We have dedicated digital and business skills development sessions, so you will be learning at the same time as the other participants. As long as you come willing to learn and contribute ideas.
What if I don’t have any entrepreneurial idea?
You are still welcome! During the event you will be inspired and learn from others what kind of entrepreneurial solutions are out there or need to be developed, and you could join one of the teams already working on an idea.
What do I bring?
Bring your laptop, mobile phone, scratch paper and curiosity. We will provide some food, some drinks, wi-fi, power and challenges.
How much it costs to attend the events?
The participation to the events is free of charge.
Can I attend more than one event?
Yes, you are more than welcome to attend several events and bring new ideas to the teams.
How do I register?
Fill-in this application form: https://forms.gle/YxPP1EV5kU8uqYQe9
The organizing team will send a confirmation email to confirm your participation.
We4Change: Girls and Women connecting for environmental change is funded by the Erasmus+ programme of the European Union and seeks to contribute to the EU Youth Strategy with a specific female-focused approach, that responds directly to the specific gender-based needs of girls and young women across Europe, offering thus an appropriate and innovative way to empower and engage them in their communities and society-at-large.You can find out more about the project here: http://we4change.eu/
Athena Entrepreneurship Bootcamp 2.0 follows after a successful first edition being organized in June 2022, aiming to support women migrants or with migrant backgrounds to plan their entrepreneurial activities in Belgium. The focus is on creating a community of women (aspiring) entrepreneurs with diverse cultural backgrounds that face similar challenges in starting or growing their businesses, by connecting them with a network of professionals and organizations that can support to fully valorize their entrepreneurial potential.
The second edition of the bootcamp was organized on the 7th of October 2022, as a more compact one-day training with one session covering the main administrative aspects of doing business in Belgium, and a second one dedicated to working on the business ideas of the participants. The aim was to offer a comprehensive understanding of the business ecosystem in Belgium, while allowing the participants to discuss about the opportunities and challenges they encounter on their entrepreneurial journeys, and brainstorm on adequate solutions together with our performance coach, Ms Cécile Bonneton:
Hands-on business coaching: clarify your business goals and work on a concrete plan to advance your activity with the support of our coach, and the different resources and tools offered by the program.
The Entrepreneurship Bootcamp for Women of Diverse Cultural Backgrounds was organized as part of the Athena project – Approaches To valorise the High ENtrepreneuriAl potential of migrant women to contribute to their social and economic integration – a two-year project funded by the AMIF Program. The overall objective of the project is to contribute to the economic and social integration of migrant women in the EU society by improving the services of entrepreneurship support oriented to migrant women and creating a specific entrepreneurial path for them.The project is implemented by a consortium of six partners and covers five European countries , and will directly benefit a 210 migrant women, it will increase the capacities of more than 35 professionals working in entrepreneurship support roles, it will create synergies with several organisations and it will finally intend to influence policies through a series of policy recommendations. Here you can find more about the project: https://athenaproject.net/
While entrepreneurship represents a viable alternative of decent and sustainable employment for women migrants of diverse cultural backgrounds – a powerful way towards empowerment, self-realization, income creation and improvement of their social status – the potential contribution that entrepreneurship can bring to their lives and the economy of the host country is often hindered by a series of challenges ranging from traditional barriers to business creation – difficulties in accessing credit, overwhelming bureaucracy, and lack of familiarity with the (business) environment – to some more complex ones embedded in our social structures: cultural differences and stereotypes, gender biases and social norms social that pose unique barriers to business growth and profitability for female-run enterprises.
To support these entrepreneurs – and aspiring entrepreneurs – to navigate the challenges of starting or growing a business, Digital Leadership Institute organized between 17 and 19th of June 2022 the Athena Entrepreneurship Bootcamp, a free 3-day entrepreneurship program dedicated to third-national migrant of diverse backgrounds. The Bootcamp was structured in three interconnected modules that were also suitable to be followed independently according to each participant’s interest and need. The aim was to offer a comprehensive understanding of the business ecosystem in Belgium and to develop a community with a wide range of experience and expertise to support the participating entrepreneurs long-term.
The boothcamp was structured around three main topics:
Day 1- Administrative & Financial Skills: learning about the cultural diversity and business environment in Belgium, administrative and legal requirements when starting an entrepreneurial activity, and – very importantly – funding opportunities for female entrepreneurs launching or growing their businesses;
Day 2- Business Skills: a hands-on business training session where participants discussed about vision and mission, identifying limiting beliefs, and worked on designing theirs businesses using the Lean methodology.
Day 3- Digital Skills: participants learned what are the digital tools they can use to launch and manage their online businesses; how open a webshop and how to use digital marketing to optimize their online presence.
The materials* used during the Entrepreneurship Bootcamp can be found below:
Administrative and Financial Skills materials:
*The copyright of the materials belong to heir respective authors. No part of these materials may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form without the prior consent of the copyright holders, except in the case of brief quotations embodied permitted by copyright law.
Other Resources:
Free advice & support for entrepreneurs based in the Brussels Region: 1819 https://1819.brussels/en
The Entrepreneurship Bootcamp for Women of Diverse Cultural Backgrounds was organized as part of the Athena project – Approaches To valorise the High ENtrepreneuriAl potential of migrant women to contribute to their social and economic integration – a two-year project funded by the AMIF Program. The overall objective of the project is to contribute to the economic and social integration of migrant women in the EU society by improving the services of entrepreneurship support oriented to migrant women and creating a specific entrepreneurial path for them.The project is implemented by a consortium of six partners and covers five European countries , and will directly benefit a 210 migrant women, it will increase the capacities of more than 35 professionals working in entrepreneurship support roles, it will create synergies with several organisations and it will finally intend to influence policies through a series of policy recommendations. Here you can find more about the project: https://athenaproject.net/
Part of the ATHENA initiative – Approaches To valorise the High ENtrepreneuriAl potential of migrant women to contribute to their social and economic integration* – Digital Leadership Institute organized on 24th of April 2022 a Lunch & Learn session , followed by a Peer-learning training for professionals and business support organizations working with migrant women to discuss about how to act and support the shift towards a cultural and entrepreneurial ecosystem that embraces the diversity and added value that migrant women entrepreneurs bring to the market, and, overall, to their host communities.
The session was addressed to professionals providing business support services to migrant or migrant-background women entrepreneurs or who aspire to be entrepreneurs in Belgium, both within public or private entities, as well as freelance or working in the non-profit organizations with the aim of building their capacities to deliver the services of entrepreneurial support by sharing knowledge and experiences on a variety of topics that cover both administrative and business practices for third-country nationals, but also social and cultural aspects.
The event began with the discussion of the importance of cultural diversity and the entrepreneurial business ecosystem in Belgium, this part brought forward two successful migrant women entrepreneurs to share their stories. The first speaker, Sana Afouaiz, the CEO and founder of the Womenpreneur and with Moroccan background , shared the story of starting her non-profit organization, with the mission of advancing women’s place on the entrepreneurial scene, technology, innovation & society in Belgium and in the MENA region.
Speaking about her own struggles to start a business in the fashion industry, Anna Boroshok, co-founder of Silk and Cotton Global, highlighted the importance of having a support network of other women entrepreneurs when you are coming from a diverse cultural background that can resonate and support with the challenges you face – be it administrative or cultural – as they might have experienced them as well. For this reason, Anna founded the Fearless Female Founders community for women entrepreneurs, based in Brussels.
Copyright: Digital Leadership Institute
Following this discussion, the peer-learning training for professionals and business support organizations working with migrant women aimed at going more in depth into the opportunities for these professionals to improve their skills and services offered to this specific target group.
The first aspect discussed with the participants was regarding the Cultural diversity and the entrepreneurial business ecosystem in Belgium, facilitated by Lien Warmenbol from #SheDIDIt, regarding the importance of being aware of the cultural differences that women from diverse background might experience .
Copyright: Digital Leadership Institute
Shifting perspective, trainer Sana Afouaiz facilitated a conversation on the psychological preparedness of migrant women to uptake entrepreneurship. In these discussion, certain aspects were identified as problematic for this target group, such as of marginalization, assimilation, and separation, but provided specific tips that professionals can use to support integration and enable multi-cultural needs: through active listening, creating a safe space in order for the person to feel welcomed, unleashing talents, providing targeted training, ensuring mental support and be able to defend the rights of these migrant women entrepreneurs.
Copyright: Digital Leadership Institute
Linking the previous two topics, Katja Legisa from the Digital Leadership Institute lead the discussion on understanding stereotypes and their impact on women entrepreneurs, emphasizing how important it is for professionals working in supporting roles to know how to identify and tackle the issues involving stereotypes and to be conscious of their own and shared biases.
Copyright: Digital Leadership Institute
Finally, considering the fact that access to finance is considered to be one of the most important challenges for women entrepreneurs in general, coach Jasper Verreydt gave an overview of diverse funding opportunities women can access depending on the development stage of their businesses, including: bootstrapping, crowdfunding and crowdlending, but also grant offered by the different regions of Belgium to SMEs.
Copyright: Digital Leadership Institute
Overall, the discussions among the participating professionals pointed to the fact that there is the need for a better cooperation between the different service providers and existing organizations that work specifically with this target group, and that indeed the cultural – and, many times, the psychological – awareness represent extremely important factors that should be part of the continuous development and growth of organizations when dealing with migrant women.
The Lunch & Learn session and the peer-learning training for for professionals and business support organizations working with migrant women was organized as part of the Athena project – Approaches To valorise the High ENtrepreneuriAl potential of migrant women to contribute to their social and economic integration – a two-year project funded by the AMIF Program. The overall objective of the project is to contribute to the economic and social integration of migrant women in the EU society by improving the services of entrepreneurship support oriented to migrant women and creating a specific entrepreneurial path for them.The project is implemented by a consortium of six partners and covers five European countries , and will directly benefit a 210 migrant women, it will increase the capacities of more than 35 professionals working in entrepreneurship support roles, it will create synergies with several organisations and it will finally intend to influence policies through a series of policy recommendations. Here you can find more about the project: https://athenaproject.net/
Gabriela Ramos, Assistant Director General for Social and Human Services, UNESCO (video message)
Virginia Littlejohn, Co-head of US Delegation to the G20/Women20 & Global Coordinator, W20 Women Entrepreneurs Act Initiative (WE Act)
Tamara Dancheva, Senior Manager, International Relations at GSMA & EU Delegate to the G20/Women20
Format: This event will feature a Roundtable, with interventions by representatives of public and private organizations promotingwomen’s economic empowermentandclosing the gender digital dividefor economic recovery andsustainable development. A Question & Answer session open to the public will follow the Roundtable.
Moderator: The event will be moderated by Cheryl Miller, Co-head of the G20 Women20 European Union Delegation, and Director of the Digital Leadership InstituteRegistration: This online event is open to the public and registration is required. The event will be organized on Zoom and accessed via the STI Forum Whova platform which is still in process. Those who register via Zoom will also have access. Please stay tuned.
Live Stream: The event will also be streamed live on the DLI YouTube channel.
Concept Note:
Anywhere in the world today, a woman is:
Less likely to be online;
More likely to have low or no digital skills;
Less likely to be an IT professional; and
Far less likely to launch a tech-driven enterprise.
As a result, women are at greater risk of being excluded by the digital disruption, a phenomenon exacerbated by the COVID pandemic.
COVID has disproportionately impacted women—forcing millions out of the workplace, many permanently. In response, entrepreneurship is and will continue to be a key factor in sustaining financial independence for women and in reigniting the global economy. In the digital society, such participation is increasingly linked to skills supporting both digitally-enabled and digitally-driven entrepreneurship.
However, a key characteristic of the digital disruption which cuts across geographic locations and socio-economic conditions is that, no matter where they are in the world, women are less likely to be online than men. Of the Earth’s 7.8 billion human population, men make up thirty percent and women twenty-five percent of people who are online, reflecting 195 million fewer women online overall. Despite a surge in online participation during the COVID pandemic, the rate at which women go online continues to lag behind. This ubiquitous and persistent trend represents the digital divide compounded by the gender gap which, without focused effort to address it, risks widening.
In countries where digitalization has a firmer hold, women are still less likely to have digital skills, take up formal computer science or other STEM studies, or hold technical and leadership roles in IT organizations. Globally, the founder of a digitally-driven enterprise is five times more likely to be a man than a woman, and in many places the ratio is closer to ten-to-one.
In addition to the yawing social divide this reality reflects, italso represents a loss for the global economy and for women themselves who are unable to fully realize their potential as economics actors in an increasingly digital society. In 2013, the UN reported that bringing 600 million women and girls online could boost global GDP by up to $18B. A European study of the same period suggests that equal participation of women in the ICT sector would contribute as much as €9B annually to the European economy. Especially as a response to the COVID-induced “She-cession,” action to tackle the gender digital divide presents an opportunity to improve women’s economic agency, address the digital skills and job gap, and promote a pathway toward sustainable development.
Regardless of geography, closing the gender digital divide presents a critical factor in ensuring women’s economic agency, previously and again at present, in order to promote economic development. This focus has the advantages of limiting the risk of further marginalization of women as a result of the digital disruption, addressing the global IT skills gap, filling tech jobs that otherwise go unfilled, and of supporting a woman’s pathway to economic agency in the workforce and as an entrepreneur whose work is digitally-enabled and/or tech-driven.
As such, the greatest single driver of economic recovery exiting the COVID pandemic, and that which will most contribute to sustainable development going forward, will be action supporting digital equity for women’s economic agency at the intersection of promoting women’s economic empowerment (WEE)—with women as entrepreneurs, equal actors in the workforce, and leaders across the board—and closing the gender digital divide (GDD).
Questions: The event will investigate the following questions:
What is the economic impact of the gender digital divide and the opportunity presented by closing it?
What is the state-of-play regarding development action that focuses on tackling the gender digital divide and promoting women’s economic empowerment?
What indicators and best practices may be employed to support digital equity for women’s economic agency as a pathway to economic recovery and sustainable development?
Topics: The event will address the topics of women’s economic empowerment, the gender digital divide, gender equality, woman’s rights, inclusive digital transformation, digital financial inclusion, access to finance, online safety, digital equity, digital skills, STEM skills, women-led entrepreneurship, economic recovery, building forward better from COVID, diversity, equity, inclusion, women in peacekeeping and conflict avoidance, women migrants and refugees, women in leadership, women in innovation, female founders, the SDGs, sustainable development goals, and sustainable development.
Women-led entrepreneurship can act as an enabler of women’s economic empowerment and gender equality and contribute to the post-COVID economic recovery.
On this important topic, DLI and it’s partners organized an event entitled Moving Forward Support for Women Entrepreneurs on 16 March 2022 at the Residence Palace in Brussels. The event was hybrid, which supported people to attend from a large variety of countries and organisations.
Moving Forward Support for Women Entrepreneurs was organised in the framework of the Move It Forward Plus project (MIF+), an Erasmus Plus-funded project to support organizations working in the field of female digital entrepreneurship by equipping them with tools and strategies to better support aspiring women entrepreneurs. The highlighted “tool” was the Move It Forward female digital starters weekend, a two-day program with the aim of bringing together teen and adult women to provide them with the digital skills, resources and access to expertise necessary to inspire them to take up digital entrepreneurship.
During the event, speakers highlighted the importance of supporting women-led entrepreneurship from different angles and perspectives.
First, Cheryl Miller, DLI Director and Co-head of EU Delegation to the G20 / Women20, dug into why it is important to support women entrepreneurs and what is at stake if this is not done.
The project coordinator, Marina Andrieu from WIDE(Luxembourg) then presented tools and methodologies developed in the MIF + project, and how they can be applied and used for training and mentoring of future digital entrepreneurs.
Next, MIF+ partner organisations, Fundatia Professional (Romania), Led by Her (France), WIDE (Luxembourg), and CTK Rijeka (Croatia), described the specific actions they implemented to support women entrepreneurs and the impact this had in their local communities.
In the final and most heart-warming part of the event, three future women entrepreneurs who are currently enrolled in the MIF+ mentoring program, shared their experiences of why and how they started on their entrepreneurship journey. In each case, they underscored the fact that getting support to develop their project idea—first during the MIF digital starters weekend and afterwards with guidance from a mentor—is what has permitted them to start making their entrepreneurship dreams come true.
