The Diploma Course for Public Management of MSME Programmes with a Gender Approach aims to provide tools to public officials whose functions are framed in fostering actions to achieve gender equality and the empowerment of women through the promotion of public policies and programmes that support productive activities, the creation of decent employment, entrepreneurship, creativity, innovation, formalisation and growth of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises led by women.

During the first edition of this diploma course, efforts were made to build and develop technical capacities that would allow public process managers and decision-makers in Latin America and the Caribbean to formulate public policies aimed at promoting and developing a better business ecosystem that strengthens the promotion of innovative, inclusive and sustainable entrepreneurship led by women, in order to influence the development and economic growth of the region.

To that end, through the development of three thematic areas, conceptual elements and tools were provided to strengthen knowledge on the characteristics of business ecosystems and the development of competencies for a public management oriented towards entrepreneurship and innovation, to identify and characterise policies and tools to strengthen the development of financial and non-financial instruments, and to address initial strategies aimed at the market in which MSMEs develop, whether this is local or international.

Based on this experience, the Latin American and Caribbean Economic System (SELA) and the Latin American Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (CELIEM) present the second edition of the Diploma Course for Public Management of MSME Programmes with a Gender Approach, aimed at strengthening the management capacities of participants in the development of projects that promote the generation of support instruments and the transformation of environments that improve the development of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises led by women.

In this second edition, divided into three modules through (synchronous and asynchronous) virtual sessions, the objective is to present conceptual and methodological elements, share best practices and describe characteristics of the ecosystems, as inputs for the formulation of projects and strategies that will allow participants to conclude the diploma course with the design of a policy proposal or public programme that can be implemented to promote the development of entrepreneurship ecosystems led by women.

In this regard, this second edition of the diploma course has as a transversal axis the methodology of project formulation, seeking to develop practical and applied learning that allows participants to address the development of a value chain approach in women's enterprises, which integrates a process of transformation of the environment. This is in addition to the incorporation of support tools in financial and non-financial services oriented towards innovation in the markets, providing institutions with highly trained people with knowledge, skills, and tools for the formulation of programmes that promote the transformation of women's entrepreneurship in the region.

General

To build and develop technical capacities that enable Latin American officials and decision-makers to formulate public policies and programmes that promote and develop a better business ecosystem to strengthen the promotion of innovative, inclusive, and sustainable enterprises led by women that have an impact on the development and economic growth of the region.

Specific

1. Strengthen the formulation and management of projects aimed at the development and growth of MSMEs led by women.
2. Share best practices and lessons learned in the implementation of business support, financing, innovation, and market access programmes that will serve as an input for the formulation of new initiatives in the participating institutions that promote the creation of public policies in the member countries on the issues discussed.
3. Promote actions that, through the formulation of public policy proposals, transform the ecosystems of MSMEs led by women.
4. Promote the development of projects among the participating institutions to favour South-South cooperation schemes that have an impact on the promotion of ecosystems of MSMEs led by women.

This diploma course is aimed at public officials from Latin American and Caribbean countries who are involved in the design, implementation, monitoring, or impact evaluation of public policies and who have participated in the first edition of the diploma course.

As in the first edition, those interested should show:

• Interest in the development of creative and innovative solutions to address the current problems of the female entrepreneurial ecosystem.
• Ability to work in teams and interest in the political, social, and economic reality faced by MSMEs run by women in the region.
• Availability of the time required to take the course, dedicating at least 4 hours per week, two of them face-to-face in the synchronous sessions.

At the end of the 4 modules of the Diploma Course, participants will have acquired knowledge, skills and tools for the formulation of programmes that will enable them to develop a policy proposal or public programme that can be implemented to promote the development of women-led entrepreneurship ecosystems.

Start date of the Diploma Course: 13 June 2023

Deadline for applications: 09 June 2023 (until noon)

Duration: 12 weeks (two classes per week) Tuesdays and Thursdays

Modality: Virtual.

Application form: https://forms.office.com/r/mqmzBDfKGG

Selected candidates will receive a link to enter the Diploma Course, which will be carried out through the platform ZOOM .

The diploma course will last twelve weeks. Four training modules of three weeks each will be developed, with the objective of strengthening participants' skills and tools that will enable them to better manage public policies and programmes aimed at promoting women's entrepreneurship and MSMEs.

An applied learning methodology will be developed, which will combine conceptual and methodological knowledge of experiences and best practices implemented to address tools and resources in the formulation and management of projects, as well as in the analysis of public policies.

In this regard, the following table summarises the issues that will be addressed in each of the modules in the articulation of contents, competences, and tools:

In total there will be an effective 48 hours of training, 24 synchronous hours and 24 asynchronous hours. As a requirement for the certificate of participation, registered participants must have attended at least 80% of the synchronous sessions and have completed the exercises of the asynchronous sessions in full.

At the end of the training programme, participants will present, as a result of the diploma course, a programme proposal, which can be addressed individually or through initiatives among institutions from different countries, in which they will integrate the contents developed during each of the modules. This proposal will be evaluated by representatives of the promoting institutions and will be a requirement for obtaining the certificate of participation.

The diploma course will be divided into four modules, in which synchronous sessions will focus on sharing concepts, methodologies and experiences in four areas of the value chain for the development of women's enterprises: ecosystem conditions, support models, financing instruments and conditions for access to the public procurement market, as shown in the following table:

These contents will be complemented by the asynchronous sessions, which will be oriented towards the practical application of the project management methodology and the analysis of public policies, in order to allow participants to complement what was covered in the synchronous sessions as an input for the development of the asynchronous exercises that will gradually lead to the formulation of the final project of the diploma course.

• Synchronous sessions will be held on Tuesdays and Thursday from 8:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. Central American Time (GT-XX).
• Asynchronous sessions will be available after the conclusion of the synchronous session and will close at 12:00 a.m. on the following Sunday.

Selected participants will receive a full scholarship granted by SELA.

The course will be conducted entirely in Spanish.

At the end of the course, a certificate of achievement and participation will be issued to those who have passed the modules and have participated in at least 80% of the synchronous sessions of each module and who have completed and submitted the assignments and final project of the asynchronous sessions.

• Latin American and Caribbean Economic System (SELA)
• Latin American Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (CELIEM)