SELA and CELIEM make progress in strengthening training strategies with a gender approach for SMEs

The Latin American and Caribbean Economic System (SELA), in collaboration with the Latin American Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (CELIEM), held this Tuesday the webinar “Strategies to support women entrepreneurship in the post pandemic period,” in which a select panel analysed the current regional context on women-led entrepreneurship and the implementation of strategies to support women's insertion in the labour market in Latin America and the Caribbean.

The Permanent Secretary of SELA, Ambassador Clarems Endara, recalled that the gender gap “represents a discrimination that is not about a social class, members of a community or of a specific racial group; rather, it represents the gap between the opportunities that members of both genders have to access and control economic, social, cultural and political resources within and outside their regions.”

He detailed that women have the right to be economically autonomous in order to generate their own income and resources through a paid job opportunity on equal terms with men, as well as through access to low-interest loans that allow them to build a business based on their talents. Women also have the right to participate in the different levels of state power on equal terms.

“Nowadays, we are facing a scenario in which it is necessary to generate policies or adopt measures to support the most affected sectors through entrepreneurship, generation of alternative value chains and creation of spaces that allow for cooperation among mechanisms such as CELIEM, ImpactHub Medellín, Proyecto Ashoka, RedMamLa, Pink Taxi, Aliadas en Cadena and many other organizations that are with us today, in order to generate a platform not only to promote entrepreneurship but also to create and strengthen regional training strategies with a gender approach for small and medium-sized enterprises. From SELA, we express our willingness to continue working with our greatest enthusiasm in these enriching and necessary experiences for the region,” Ambassador Clarems Endara added.

Leticia Meza, Director of the Mentoring Committee of the Network of Women Maritime Authorities of Latin America (REDMAMLA); Ileana Rogel, Consultant and Specialist in gender issues and territorial development; Wendy Arboleda, Programme Coordinator of Impact Hub Medellín; and Karen Víctor, Researcher of the Directorate for Analysis and Research of CELIEM, formed the select panel of guests, accompanied by Carolina Armada, Founder of Pink Taxy Venezuela; Marianny Pacheco, Project Manager of Hola América in Ashoka; and by Ileana La Rosa, Founder and Executive Director of Aliadas en Cadena, who were part of the panel for the discussion on the experiences of women entrepreneurs.