BUSINESS ORIENTED YOUNG WOMEN: how to support and empower their entrepreneurial competences

The project is conceived as a tool to promote and support young women entrepreneurship a solution against unemployment, entry barriers of the sector through the digital training of people in entrepreneurial skills and exchange of good practices, facilitating the learning of business management contents specifically adapted to the needs of the target group advancing and promoting competitiveness, economic diversification, the sustainable development and job creation. The EMPOWER project addressed the following needs: 1. Lack/Low entrepreneurial and IT competences, especially in Social enterprises field; 2. Smaller and less effective entrepreneurial networks and policy frameworks that discourage women’s entrepreneurship; 3. Low self-esteem/lack of confidence of the target group especially due to gender inequalities; 4. Lack of role models of female entrepreneurship; 5. Poor access to financial support in raising initial capital for business start-up. Women use a third of the starting capital than men due to more difficulties in dealing with banks and entering informal financial networks.

By implementing the project and his activities, participating partners and the coordinator aimed to achieve and accomplish the following specific objectives: 1. To provide employment guidance systems to young women who want to undertake and lead social enterprises or totake up the entrepreneurship world through the production of high quality materials and tailor made training with newmethods and more effective and individualized tools to support young women and to encourage them to adapt to the post-COVID19 labour market from an IT and entrepreneurial skills perspective as much as green skills required by the market; 2. To give young women access to relevant networks through the involvement of stakeholders, organizations active in thefield and other policy makers at the most appropriate level. Networks are key factors in business success by providing access to information, advice, finance and business contacts; 3. To support the priority of advancing gender equality and women's empowerment (as a key project strategy) through the creation of a business model based on social enterprise with an active role for young women leaders. Therefore, through the implementation of this project we want to reduce the gender gap.