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The 2021 UfM Women Business Forum

Final report of the Women Business Forum 2021

Technological changes, including digitalisation, have been accelerated by the Covid-19 health crisis. Digital transformation presents a major tool for empowering women to enable their inclusion in labour markets, in entrepreneurial and financial activities, particularly with a view on future challenges. However, women in the Euro-Mediterranean region face a persistent gender gap in access and use of digital technologies, in digital skills and in the digital labour market, and face certain online risks when engaging with new technologies.

This year, the Women Business Forum will join the international community to further analyze how digitalisation can help empower women as entrepreneurs, traders, workers and professionals as well as discuss the necessary policy measures required to ensure that digitalisation does not leave women behind.

Why join?

  • Learn how to transform your business in the training sessions on digitalisation for women-led SMEs
  • Learn about gender-sensitive innovation and digital opportunities for rural women
  • Grow your network in the MENA Business Club speed networking events
  • Follow round table discussions with high-level international experts
  • Visit women-led companies in the MENA region through the virtual site visits

 

Who should join?

The event welcomes women entrepreneurs, policy makers, business experts, investment ventures, women business organisations, chambers of commerce and national and regional support schemes and organisations for women in business.

Themes

The Forum’s roundtable discussions will focus on the root causes of the digital gender divide in the MENA region and explore how the digital divide affects women entrepreneurs without sufficient access to technology. Education and training initiatives to enhance digital literacy and women’s participation in digital environments will be addressed, as well as the opportunities digital transformation and technologies have, their impact on value chains and how they can be used to enhance the competitiveness of women-owned SMEs and women’s bargaining power.

Training Programme

Digital Transformation for Women-Led SMEs

E-commerce for women entrepreneurs

Delivered by UNIDO

Innovation and digital opportunities for businesses in rural areas

Delivered by CIHEAM

MENA Business Club

The MENA Business Club offers women-owned & women-led businesses in the region the opportunity to grow their business to the next level. Through speed networking events with a curated selection of actors (distributors, retailers, suppliers, service providers and partners), women entrepreneurs from ICT, Creative Industries & Cosmetics value chains will be able to:

  • Find business opportunities
  • Access industry leaders
  • Attend private B2B meetings
  • Promote their business

This session will also include a Masterclass on how to make the most out of Speed Networking Meetings.

Organised in collaboration with UNIDO within the framework of the project Promoting women empowerment for inclusive and sustainable industrial development in the MENA region.

More information

Virtual Site visit

Through the testimonies of three inspiring women entrepreneurs from Tunisia, this session will take you behind the scenes of how digitalization is giving their businesses the edge in the natural cosmetics sector. Together, they paint a picture of how digitalization can optimize an enterprise’s operations–from time to market, inventory optimization, supply chain management to sales and reaching new markets.

This session is brought to you thanks to the pilot initiative funded by the Principality of Monaco in Tunisia under the UNIDO, UN Women and FAO joint programme labelled by UfM “Promoting Women’s Empowerment for Inclusive and Sustainable Industrial Development in the MENA Region – Phase II” (PWE II). The PWE II programme aims to contribute to the creation of conditions for inclusive and sustainable economic growth by empowering women through increased access to markets, finance and improved quantity and quality of production in selected gender-sensitive value).

The speakers

Sarah Carroll

Founder of Grow Global

Dr Jocelyne Jawhar

CIHEAM Bari

Dr Giordano Dichter

Consultant- CIHEAM Bari

Mrs. Jihen Boutiba Mrad

Secretary General /BUSINESSMED

Sana Afouaiz

Founder & Director at Womenpreneur-Initiative

Luisa Prista

Head of Department of Innovation Ecosystems, SMP/COSME and Consumers, European Innovation Council and SMEs Executive Agency

Abigail Mamo

Malta Chamber of SMEs

Amr Soliman

Founder, Executive Chairman, eVision

Hajer Derouiche

CEO & Founder Actifs Precieux & Aeshab

Hela Touhami

Founder of Phytoessentia

Lobna Dems

CEO NAKAWA BIO

All biographies

Agenda

Day 1: 6 July

 

10.00-11:30 

Opening remarks – Ambassador Marisa Farrugia, Deputy Secretary General of Social and Civil Affairs Division, UfM

Message from Fatou Haidara, Managing Director, Directorate of Corporate Management and Operations, UNIDO

Round Table 1: Bridging the digital gender gap in the MENA region:  root causes, policies and solutions (Open session)

The aim of the first round table is to have a close discussion on the root causes of the digital gender gap and on how it is affecting women and women-led businesses in the region. Panelists will share good practices, leverage points and policy advice on how this gender divide can be bridged.

Moderator: Sana Afouaiz, Award-winning founder and director of Womenpreneur Initiative, and UN Women Advisor.

Speakers:

  • Dr. Neila Amara, International Project Management Expert, UNIDO
  • Chiara Criscuolo, Head of the Productivity and Business Dynamics Division, in the Science, Technology and Innovation Directorate, OECD
  • Ambassador Wafaa Bassim, Member of the National Council for Women, Egypt
  • Ms. María Helena de Felipe Lehtonen, President of Afaemme

 

11:30-12:00

Virtual site visits (Open session): 

Through the testimonies of three inspiring women entrepreneurs from Tunisia, this session will take you behind the scenes of how digitalization is giving their businesses the edge in the natural cosmetics sector. Together, they paint a picture of how digitalization can optimize an enterprise’s operations–from time to market, inventory optimization, supply chain management to sales and reaching new markets.

  • Ms. Hajer Derouiche (Actifs Precieux)
  • Hela Touhami (Phytoessentia)
  • Ms. Lobna Dems (Nakawa Bio)

 

12:00- 13:30

Round Table 2: Opportunities of digitalisation for women entrepreneurs (Open session)

The objective is to discuss how digital technology has impacted value chains and how it can enhance the competitiveness of women-owned SMEs and women’s bargaining power. Panelists will discuss the catalyzing effect these technologies can have to provide access to finance and new markets, exploring their potential from the world of digital payments and e-commerce to innovation and business advocating.

Moderator: Sana Afouaiz, Award-winning founder and director of Womenpreneur Initiative, and UN Women Advisor.

Speakers:

  • Ms Susan Kaaria, Susan Kaaria, Senior Officer and Team Leader, Gender, Inclusive Rural Transformation and Gender Equality Division, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)
  • Mr. Amr Soliman, Board Member, Economic Committee Chair, Director of Financial Inclusion Chapter, National Council for Women, Egypt
  • Ms.  Jihen Boutiba Mrad, Secretary General, BUSINESSMED   
  • Ms. Abigail Malmo, CEO, CEO, Malta Chamber of SMEs, Malta
  • Ms. Luisa Prista, Head of Department of Innovation Ecosystems, European Innovation Council and SMEs Executive Agency

 Day 2: 7 July

10:30-12:30 

Digital Transformation for Women-led SMEs (Closed session for selected participants)

13:30- 14: 30

MENA Business Club: Speed Networking Sessions – Organised in collaboration with UNIDO (Closed session for selected participants)

15:00 – 16:30

Training on How to boost your Online Business (Parallel session) – Delivered by UNIDO (Closed session for selected participants)

Training Session on Gender-sensitive innovation and digital opportunities for rural women: what role for intermediary actors such as Innovation Support Organizations?  (Parallel session) – Delivered by CIHEAM (Open session)

Media Contact

Press contact

Marine Moulin
+34 935 214 137
         +34 691 519 634
media@ufmsecretariat.org

Download the Union for the Mediterranean press kit:
AR  //  EN  //  ES  //  FR

Media are invited to attend the event. Interviews during and after the Forum with key speakers, experts and decision-makers are possible.

If you need additional information please contact the UfM Secretariat upstream: media@ufmsecretariat.org

Help us maximise outreach efforts (Toolkit coming soon)

Event Contact

Social & Civil Affairs Division

For any enquiries, please contact us via email at womenbusinessforum@ufmsecretariat.org.

Resources

Presentations, report and other useful documents will be shared in this section.

With the financial support of:

In collaboration with:

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LOGO-BUSINESSMED-F

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