16-17 July 2025 – Palermo, Italy. The Women Business forum 2025 will be organized by the UfM in partnership with Union of Arab Banks and OECD-MENA and will take place on 16 and 17 July in Palermo, Italy. Funded by SIDA for the past eight years, the Women Business Forum is a UfM flagship event focused on supporting women-led business growth. Initially sector-specific, the Forum has more recently adopted a cross-sectoral approach, emphasizing access to finance and leading to key recommendations such as improving regulatory frameworks, enhancing public-private partnerships, and expanding technical assistance and mentorship programs.

The UfM is organising the 9th edition of the Women Business Forum, centered on women entrepreneurs’ financial inclusion through scalable financial mechanisms. This year’s Forum will adopt a participatory working-group format, bringing together stakeholders to:

• Facilitate dialogue among financial institutions, policymakers, and women business leaders to identify innovative financing solutions.
• Identify concrete actions to support women entrepreneurs.
• Foster partnerships and enhance investment readiness.
• Provide a structured setting for knowledge exchange, peer learning, and collective problem-solving.

• Investment Readiness Program:Joint development of a three-year program developed in consultation with women’s business associations and financial actors. This initiative will pool resources and provide technical assistance for projects at the national level.
• InspireHer Award Ceremony:Recognition of outstanding women entrepreneurs, organized in collaboration with the Union of Arab Banks, providing a platform for best practice sharing. https://ufmsecretariat.org/inspireher-contest-2025/
• OECD Champions Network:Engagement with the OECD Champions Network within the framework of the EU-OECD Regional Project, “Enhancing Women Entrepreneurs’ Financial Inclusion and Access to Finance in the Digital Age,” to advance financial inclusion discussions. https://playplay.com/app/share/oecd/918dabfb-6b6c-4dd3-96a2-e744be773e24
• Roundtables and Workshops:Various activities to foster dialogue and collaboration.

The Women Business Forum 2025 aims to create a collaborative environment that drives women’s economic participation and supports sustainable growth. The insights and commitments gained from this forum will be instrumental in shaping flexible financing models for women in business in the MENA region.