Women in Action: UNDP Partners with Government of Grenada to promote female entrepreneurship

 St. Mark’s Women in Action, spearheaded a one-month micro-business development programme for twenty-five (25) local female entrepreneurs over the age of thirty-five. The Women-of-Worth (WoW) Programme focused on delivering training to enhance entrepreneurship skills in areas such as team building, service education and project management. On completion of the programme, the participants received white goods and other needed equipment critical to launching and boosting their businesses.

During the graduation ceremony held in St. Mark, Grenada, earlier this month, the Honourable Minister Modeste Curwen noted, “The WoW programme is funded by UNDP and is instrumental in providing access to much-needed training so that these women, the backbone of our communities, can become financially independent and economically empowered, leading to sustainable livelihoods.” She added, “We saw that there was a wealth of talent where the only thing lacking was a formal training programme and the knowledge that someone believed in them. These ladies have now been given the opportunity to grow and sustain successful businesses, which can redefine the future for not only them and their families but also for our wider community. We are immensely proud of how seriously they have approached the opportunity and we are confident of the success of their businesses.”

The 25 women, from the rural community, were either unemployed or under employed before completing the training and through the intervention are now more financially independent and can create a better future for themselvs and their families. The training combined theory and practical experiences with participants engaging with the community and getting real time feedback from potential customers on their business ideas. Additionally, they developed the necessary skills to  produced their own branded posters and how to leverage social media to reach customers and build their brands. Further to these skills the participants were certified in food handling where needed.

Miguel Guirao, Project Coordinator for the Future Tourism Project congratulated the participants and reaffirmed UNDP’s commitment to building the capacity of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in the Eastern Caribbean region. Mr. Guirao stated, “UNDP focus its efforts to provide Caribbean people with the skills and knowledge to adapt to the new post-COVID environment; building their resilience to external shocks and improving people’s ability to respond to the needs of new and emerging markets”.

Following UNDP’s Blue Economy for Green Islands approach, the Future Tourism project seeks to promote resilience to external shocks, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as climatic and natural disasters. Its goal is to promote economic diversification, job creation and resilience which boosts recovery by supporting the digitally enabled transformation of the business processes and value chains of MSMEs. As the Caribbean continues to seek solutions to build resilience and livelihoods for traditionally vulnerable groups, UNDP Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean, in partnership with governments and stakeholders, persists in its commitment to the advancement of inclusive and sustainable development throughout the region and building resilient communities that can withstand shocks and crises through targeted projects and programmes.

For media queries please contact Shani Leacock – shani.leacock@undp.org

UNDP is the leading United Nations organisation fighting to end the injustice of poverty, inequality and climate change. Working with our broad network of experts and partners in 170 countries, we help nations to build integrated lasting solutions for people and planet. Learn more at www.bb.undp.org or follow at @UNDPBarbados