Women are the Catalyst of change
Factors Influencing Palestinian Women’s Economic Engagement
• Political instability• Legal and regulatory environment• Business licensing and registration procedures• Lack of Business Development Centers for Women• Limited Access to Finance opportunities.• Limited Access to information on marketing and networking.• Cultural and traditional barriers. • No representation of business women in the public-Private
dialogue.
BWFFounded
2006Membership based None Profit
organization
Mission
Strengthen
the role of businesswomen in the Palestinian economy
BWF Strategic Direction
SG 1: Supporting the establishment and growth of women owned SMEs and entrepreneurs
SG 2: Building capacities and skills of women entrepreneurs to manage an enterprise
SG 3: Advocating the value of women entrepreneurs in the Palestinian economy.
SG 4: Strengthening the organizational capacity of the BWF
Moving Forward
Pillars
Building Capacity
Encouraging Entrepreneu
rship
NetworkingAdvocacy
Coaching
Mentorship
We Serve
Business Women
Young Female
Graduates
WomenEntrepreneurs
Women Cooperatives
Members with the Power to Influence
71 Members
3 out 100FORBES
4 Elected Municipality
Ramallah / Nablus
1 ElectedChamber of CommerceRamallah
1 memberInternational Court
of Arbitration
2 out of 50 top executives in
Telecom sector at Comms-MEA 2012
Partners
Business Development Center for Women
BDC primarily aims to enable businesswomen and female entrepreneurs to develop their
businesses and build up their competitive advantage
Services of BDC
Legal services and advice
Technical assistance such as consulting services, coaching and counseling
Services of BDC
Access to credit information and support:
A) linkages to credit institutions,B) Market research and information,
Management training and technical support.
Increasing of Beneficiaries
Date 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013
Number of Beneficiaries
0 10 54 80 90
Capacity Building of Women SME’s• 18 Paid Private Consultancy =$ 58450 • 130 counseling sessions were held.
• 500 hours were spent on B2B counseling sessions.
• 10 entrepreneurs were matched with Google mentorship Program.
• 60 BDC beneficiaries were connected with other trainings conducted by BWF partners.
• 5 women in traditional Palestinian Embroidery fashion and jewelry were matched with a designer over video conference from London.
• 40 tailored training workshops were conducted , 1100 women have participated.
• 18 SME were supported with Promotional material for their businesses.
Success Story
“Al Themar”label before
Business and Product development/ Packaging Development AlThemar Co. Label After:
Received Intensive Training and B2B coaching
Impact
• 18 SME’s formally registered• 15 SME’s started • 70 SME’s developed • 22 SME’s have increased their sales by 20%• Social Impact • %60 of the members have enhanced their
leadership skills Improved• Better financial status and income.
Lessons learned • Topics of trainings for beneficiaries are built
according to a needs assessment mapping BDC beneficiaries, through contracting experienced consultants.
• More explosion to multimedia and social media means was conducted to grab the attention of beneficiaries.
• More opportunities of the representation of BWF are given to all members and staff according to specialty, and not only exclusive for founding members.
Where to find us?
Al-Fare’ Bldg, 2nd Fl. Al-Baluu’ – Palestine
www.bwf.ps
www.facebook.com/BusinessWomenForum