With support from Google.org, Pro Mujer and UN Women/Fundación Gran Chaco recently launched two initiatives aimed at rural and Indigenous women in Northern Argentina. The projects focus on developing collective entrepreneurship through digital and financial skilling opportunities, business incubation and acceleration, and access to microcredits.
Google supports these initiatives through its philanthropic arm, Google.org, which has provided a $500,000 grant to both Pro Mujer and UN Women.
“We are proud to support these non-profit organizations as they implement projects that contribute to solving an important problem in the country: closing the gender gap and offering more tools and economic opportunities to women in different provinces of Northern Argentina,” said Tamar Colodenco, Public Policy and Government Relations Manager for Southern Cone at Google. “We know that working together is the best way to make real change, as collaboration allows us to understand local needs and work in partnership with the communities we serve.”
Pro Mujer will use the grant to expand its impact in the region and provide more microcredits and personalized support to 1,500 women entrepreneurs in northern Argentina so they can grow their businesses.
“Closing the gender gap is an urgent issue, and we must work together to make change,” added Ana Acosta, Financial Services Manager at Pro Mujer. “We are happy to continue working hand-in-hand with strategic partners like Google.org. Thanks to this support, we will expand our reach in the region and impact more women so that they can improve not only their lives but also the lives of the people around them.”
Thanks to the support from Google.org, Pro Mujer will expand its activities to the province of Chaco as part of its efforts to positively impact more women. For 17 years, Pro Mujer has offered its financial inclusion, health, and skilling services to women at its physical locations in Salta, Jujuy, Tucumán, and Buenos Aires.
UN Women will use the funds to support the initiative “Womek, Entrepreneurs of the Gran Chaco,” a project implemented alongside the Fundación Gran Chaco to increase women’s economic autonomy in the region. The initiative will focus on building up local women entrepreneur’s digital and entrepreneurial skills, facilitating their access to finance, and strengthening their businesses.
“This project has the potential to raise awareness of the importance of creating innovative, inclusive, and sustainable strategies to progress toward gender equality,” said Dalia Virgilí Pino, Project Coordinator at UN Women.
Both projects are currently underway and will continue throughout the year.
