“Women entrepreneurship isn’t only important for gender equality and empowerment of the woman but also is critical for supporting industrial growth, innovation, economic development and many other key areas” H.E. Ruhsar Pekcen Minister of trade of Turkey.
Why should women be interested in entrepreneurship? In low-income countries, working for a job is the exception, not the rule, for both men and women. The number of wage workers aged 15 and over does not exceed 7% in low-income countries, compared to about 18% for men (this includes public and private sector jobs as formal and informal employees). Self-employment for women (or in general for those who work for themselves) – that is, working without a boss, whether in small, medium or large companies – automatically becomes an important means of empowering women. Inevitably, men and women will have different perspectives and backgrounds that form their business approach. It can build innovation and inspire new ideas that move companies forward by questioning each other and engaging with individuals who think differently.
With the emergence of the Covid-19 virus, governments have worked to face the challenges that follow it, and governments have actually played a role in the process of accelerating the transfer from traditional work to another appropriate to the current situation. In addition, governments seek to develop the right mechanisms and facilitate small businesses in order to be part of the new revolution or the fourth industrial revolution. Therefore, they launched awareness campaigns for the public. The Ministries of Health and Internal Affairs have advised people to stay at home, practice good hygiene, and call the authorities from public text messages to TV and social announcements if they experience signs in either themselves or those around them.
Even in this extraordinary situation in the world, the best investment to be made is entrepreneurship. The more importance countries attach to entrepreneurship, the less economic damage they can get out of this situation. Entrepreneurship starts with creative ideas, and women’s creativity can make a big difference here. The participation of women in entrepreneurship is effective in the development of the country. We need to begin to foster entrepreneurship in girls while they are in elementary school to impact meaningful change. We must teach them not only the financial and other skills they will need to succeed but also through hands-on training and experiences with female role models to see themselves as entrepreneurs and leaders. And there are some important things that every entrepreneur should know. For instance, there are many types of business plans, but you must choose the appropriate ones for your business in order to achieve the best productivity, and before starting work in you must prepare the business plan. “We identify target market by mostly for four sectors by gender is it male or female, by income, by location and by age. People always get shocked when they know the most people that are buying in an age range of people think it’s always between 18 to 40, actually it is 13 to 25” said Ahmet Hejres – UNIDO ITPO Bahrain.
In conclusion, this program served as a forum to tackle young women entrepreneurs’ critical role in driving growth and SDGs. As a result of this event, which was held with the participation of 535 participants from 57 countries, many women entrepreneur candidates increased their knowledge in this ecosystem by benefiting from the experience of 160 entrepreneurs.
It also highlighted the crucial role of institutions in developing opportunities and further strengthening cooperation with a view to further enhancing women’s opportunities for entrepreneurship. In addition, this program focused primarily on the role of young entrepreneurs insustainable development schemes as key benefactors and benefactresses.
