SELA: Public policies with a gender approach are required for the productive transformation of the region

After six months of training, officials from Guyana, Belize, Suriname, and Trinidad and Tobago, among other Caribbean Member States, participated in the Diploma Course for the Public Management of MSME Programmes with a Gender Approach for the Caribbean, organised by the Latin American and Caribbean Economic System (SELA) and the Latin American Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (CELIEM).

“The implementation of public policies that support and promote productive transformation and respond to the basic needs of micro-enterprises is of vital importance for the economic development of countries, especially when problems related to the gender gap in the labour market persist,” the Coordinator of the Economic Recovery Area of SELA, José Miguel Rovira, said during the closing remarks of the course.

He stressed that SMEs play a fundamental role in the economies of the countries due to their contribution to national production, their capacity to adapt to technological advances, to generate employment and to promote social inclusion. According to Inter-American Development Bank estimates, MSMEs represent 99.5% of the total business fabric in Latin America and the Caribbean, generating more than half of the formal productive employment in the region.

“After this training structured in 3 modules, you will be the spokespersons and promoters of a better business ecosystem, of innovative and inclusive entrepreneurship led by women, generating a positive impact on the economic growth of the Caribbean countries. You will also lead innovation initiatives and improve the institutional capacities of public management, in order to improve the personal and professional development of women entrepreneurs," the Coordinator added.

For his part, Luis Álvarez, Executive Director of CELIEM, stressed that women are the economic engine of small and medium-sized enterprises in the region and are key players in the economic recovery of our countries.

“They empower new conditions for innovation, new tools; they make it possible for the resources available to us to have an impact on women-led businesses throughout the region,” the Executive Director of CELIEM added.

The Diploma Course for the Public Management of MSME Programmes with a Gender Approach for the Caribbean started in November 2023 and ended the first week of March 2024. Structured in three modules: Business Ecosystems; Instruments for the development of women's MSMEs and Market; the objective of the course was to build technical capacities that allow decision-makers to formulate public policies, promote and develop a better ecosystem that strengthens the promotion of innovative, inclusive, and sustainable entrepreneurship led by women, in order to impact the development and economic growth of the region.

SELA and CELIEM have successfully developed two editions of the Training Course for the Management of MSME Programmes with a Gender Approach, providing more than 60 public officials and decision-makers of the Member States of the organisation with tools for the formulation of public policies, as well as the transfer of innovation towards women entrepreneurship in the region.

For SELA, the gender approach is a cross-cutting element in its Multi-Year Work Programme, focused on the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals in Latin America and the Caribbean, specifically in promoting the entrepreneurial ecosystem of SMEs in the region.