One hundred female entrepreneurs graduated from the first group of Emprende Pro Mujer in its hybrid model in Colombia at the end of June 2024, and joined the more than 6 thousand women who have already graduated from the virtual model of Emprende, which has been active in the country since October 2023.
The female entrepreneurs received their certificate of participation after six weeks of receiving support and training via in-person and virtual sessions on marketing, e-commerce, and finance. Now, 33 women from Guainía, 44 from Guaviare, and 23 from Vaupés (departments of the Colombian Orinoquía region) are ready to continue increasing their sales, their clientele, and their knowledge in entrepreneurship.
This is the second stage of the implementation of the partnership between Pro Mujer and the Fondo Mujer (Women’s Fund), a government program attached to the Vice Presidency of Colombia, through which women from all Colombian regions have received training in business model, financial health, budgeting, sales strategies, design, communication, marketing, and various skills that will allow them to boost their businesses. This will continue with the second group of women who will start their training with the hybrid Emprende model in early July.
In order to reach the areas of the country with lesser access to information and communication technologies and, furthermore, with higher unemployment rates, the agreement took the program in its hybrid modality to the departments of Guainía, Guaviare, and Vaupés in the first quarter of 2024, where education and personalized support were provided through in-person and virtual sessions adapted to the conditions of women in this region, based on the experience gained from similar contexts in regions like southeastern Mexico.
“By way of Fondo Mujer, we offer different transformation opportunities for women of diverse backgrounds, so we develop initiatives to promote their economic autonomy and closing gender gaps in Colombia. We work to make our country a nation of entrepreneurial women with scalable, profitable, replicable, and sustainable businesses that generate quality employment,” said María Fernanda Reyes, Director of Fondo Mujer.
The hybrid model of Emprende Pro Mujer has been active since 2022 in southeastern Mexico, and has already graduated more than 3,000 Indigenous and rural women. This arose from the evident need to adjust the program to the contexts in which the majority of women do not have access or knowledge of information technologies, to contribute to closing those gaps.
Thus, the hybrid model is proposed from an intersectional framework, with tailor-made pedagogical plans for the most vulnerable, racialized, and less digitalized women, with in-person meetings facilitated by women from the same community, simple tools, and easily accessible channels like WhatsApp.
“Our driving force is women’s well-being. We want all women to have the tools to reach their full potential. And if there is a territory in Colombia, in Latin America, in which 37% of rural women are in multidimensional poverty, such as the Orinoquía and the Amazonía, we will be there strengthening their capacities to achieve economic autonomy,” said Carmen Correa, CEO of Pro Mujer.
The fact is that the majority of rural women experiencing multidimensional poverty are in three of the regions where Emprende Pro Mujer already has a presence: Guainía, Vichada and Vaupés. These, in addition, have an unemployment rate of 16.2% and an Internet access of 18.9%, 10.2% and 4.1%, respectively. (DANE)
The figures collected by the Departamento Administrativo Nacional de Estadística (National Administrative Department of Statistics) (DANE) also indicate that in rural areas of Colombia, women that are economically active make up only 29.6%, and of these, 82.8% are informally employed.
That is why, through Pro Mujer and Fondo Mujer, we will continue to provide training through the digital and hybrid training models of Emprende Pro Mujer, to structure communities of entrepreneurial women who support each other in the path to generating sustainable and profitable businesses, and thus continue closing the gender economic and employment gap.
