Projects

Short Description:

Overall goal

Project objective:

Promote economic empowerment among socially deprived and marginalised women, as means for improvement of their socio-economic position and full access to rights.

Expected results

Results:

- 2 women CSOs successfully represent vulnerable women and support their engagement in livelihood security activities – private businesses; - The 2 women CSOs have become business resource centres for vulnerable women and successfully manage their own social enterprises; - At least 80 marginalized and vulnerable women supported to generate self-confidence and skills to run a sustainable economic activity and to increase their family income; - Social and women entrepreneurship promoted through networking and best practice exchange

Target group / Beneficiaries

Target Group/Region/Partner:

Local Partners: Centre for Roma Initiatives (CRI) and Open Centre Bona Fide: At least 80 marginalised and vulnerable women and members of their families from Roma communities and women from rural project target areas, who will receive trainings in business planning, out of which 40 will receive direct project grants for their business start-ups. Also 20 women will be prepared for employment and the project will encourage their involvement with the newly founded social enterprises by partner organisations. Approximately 100 men belonging to the families of the targeted women (husbands, fathers, brothers) will be involved in the workshops in local communities that will promote women’s employment and the idea of women’s economic empowerment and its benefits to livelihood security. In addition, other local stakeholders consisting of representatives of local authorities of Niksic and Pljevlja and service provider representatives that will take part in the project implementation, such as representatives of municipal economic departments, employment bureaus, centres for social work and business advisory services. Thus a total of 560 final beneficiaries (around 50% women and girls) in the target households will be indirectly affected.In terms of geographic coverage, the project will work in two regions of Montenegro: Niksic and Pljevlja, both belonging to less developed north-central part of Montenegro.

Activities

Activities:

baseline research – needs assessment; orientation workshop (kick off/planning) with partner organisations; admin/finance requirements training for partners; capacity building program for partnerorganisations in skills for business development and labour market possibilities for women; exchange forums in two target areas for the support of employment and self-employment; workshops and meetings with men in targeted Roma communities to promote benefits of the involvement of women in entrepreneurial activities; elaboration of a sustainable business plan and to start up social enterprises, vocational trainings for 20 women; elaboration of marketing plans for enhancing the visibility of the partners’ social enterprises; selection of 80 beneficiaries for the trainings in business development; selection of 40 women to receive business start up grants and provision of grants; organisation of a conference/fair promoting models and concrete results in women entrepreneurship from the project; information and best-practice exchange through national and regional networking with CSOs and associations of women entrepreneurs (including exchange visits).

Context

Background:

The approach of promoting social enterprises departs from the model employed in the context of the ADA funded “Women Economic Empowerment for Roma Women in Bosnia & Herzegovina” project implemented from 2012 to 2014 (8108-03/2012) and “Empowerment of Women Vulnerable to Violence” from 2014 to 2017 (8108-03/2014). The NGOs are regarded as hubs that deliver individual women “social grants”, and through this process they gain additional capacity on providing assistance to them, they acquire additional knowledge about the local markets and assist the individual producers to gain better market access.

ADC Funding 50% of the total project Costs.