Resources: gender

Gender-oriented Entrepreneurship Promotion

A Manual for Practitioners. Gender-oriented Entrepreneurship Promotion, Swiss Agency for Development ad Cooperation in 2003.

Considering that the majority of small and micro-entrepreneurs in many countries in the world are women, this manual aims at assisting people involved in small-entrepreneurship development to implement gender-balanced programs. This guide for Women Entrepreneurship Promotion (WEP) is divided into two parts – a more explanatory and a more practical one, and provides information which is very useful to address gender specific issues, and which could significantly improve the way in which micro and small-enterprise development programs are implemented and monitored.

In the first section of the guide, strategies to be gender aware in all the phases of the project cycle are presented, underlining the importance to adapt them to the context and to the profile of the target group. The manual focuses in particular on target group analysis, needs and demands analysis, analysis of the commercial viability of the final product, analysis and selection of partner organisations, sector analysis and labour market analysis.

When discussing the project implementation phase, the authors recommend to focus on improving women’s access to services (through subsides, pricing strategies and modes of payment) and their knowledge of services available, as well as on the importance to provide specific services for women entrepreneurs (such as training specifically addressing areas that could limit women’s success in business) and networking and empowerment strategies. Suggestions on how to decide how and what to monitor are also provided.

The second part of the guide includes a useful list of sample worksheets and questionnaires to assist practitioner undertaking target group analysis, partner selection processes, gender differentiated sector analysis and labour marketing analysis.

© 2009 People and Development.