Catalogue of Local Inclusive Public Policies

Public policies
catalogue

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Female Entrepreneur Program

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Ushuaia - Argentina

Region
Latin America and the Caribbean
Range of Demographic Size
50,000 to 99,999 inhabitants (small intermediate)

5.1 End all forms of discrimination against all women and girls everywhere in the world.

5.2 Eliminate all forms of violence against all women and girls in the public and private spheres, including trafficking and sexual and other types of exploitation.

5.a Undertake reforms to give women equal rights to economic resources, as well as access to ownership and control over land and other forms of property, financial services, inheritance and natural resources, in accordance with national laws.

5.b Enhance the use of enabling technology, in particular information and communications technology, to promote the empowerment of women.

5.c Adopt and strengthen sound policies and enforceable legislation for the promotion of gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls at all levels.

8.3 Promote development-oriented policies that support productive activities, decent job creation, entrepreneurship, creativity and innovation, and encourage the formalization and growth of micro-, small- and medium-sized enterprises, including through access to financial services.

10-2 By 2030, empower and promote the social, economic and political inclusion of all, irrespective of age, sex, disability, race, ethnicity, origin, religion or economic or other status.

A - Full integration of population dynamics into sustainable development with equality and respect for human rights.

E - Gender equality

American Convention on Human Rights

• Inter-American Convention on the Prevention, Punishment, and Eradication of Violence against Women (Convention of Belém do Pará)

Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW).

Declaration on the Elimination of Violence Against Women.

Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR).

International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).

International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR).

Summary

The Female Entrepreneur Program is a local policy that promotes economic autonomy, empowerment of women and the creation of support networks. On the one hand, it seeks to prevent that the economic aspect become a limit for women´s actions; and on the other, that violence situations be generated as a consequence of the lack of own income. It is a program that promotes a higher involvement of women in the economy of the city and that previews specific tools to go forward with the creation of a physical and economic autonomy.

The Program has several axis so that women can improve or promote their productive undertakings, such as the grants not refundable in money or in kind (tools, machinery and supplies); training; creation of a digital platform to market products; and an annual event held in the context of the Ushuaia anniversary, where, during two days, the  female entrepreneurs can exhibit their work.

Implementation Date:

Start: 08 / 1 / 2017

End: End: Currently in force

Local economic development - Education / Labor Training Gender and sexual diversity - Women Gender and sexual diversity - Gender violence Gender and sexual diversity - Domestic violence
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he degree of access of men and women to economic structures and their corresponding opportunities of empowerment are substantially different. These differences are shown in the difficulty for adding women to the employment market and in the permanence of unemployment indicators. While women face the tasks of household care and maintenance, when unemployed, they have less time to re-enter the employment market or be trained to improve their opportunities. These situations are worsened in times of crisis. As the Beijing Platform describes: “[…] women have been particularly affected by the economic situation and restructuring processes, which have changed the nature of employment and, in some cases, have led to a loss of jobs, even for professional and skilled women. In addition, many women have entered the informal sector owing to the lack of other opportunities. […] Women, particularly those who are heads of households with young children, are limited in their employment opportunities for reasons that include, among others, inflexible working conditions and inadequate sharing, by men and by society, of family responsibilities.”
The Comprehensive Education and Promotion of Rights area has the purpose of strengthening women though the knowledge of their rights, the generation of resources for development of their abilities and the prevention of any kind of violence. By virtue of the foregoing, the Female Entrepreneur Program is designed in order to contribute to equal opportunities in the labor market, to provide for economic autonomy to women, and to promote the creation of networks among them. The goals of this program also consider that the rest of the population can know and value the contribution of women to the economy and, indirectly, strengthen the local market, extend the offer and competence by providing new quality options.
The Secretariat of Women was created on December 16, 2015, directly under the Municipal Mayor. It approaches in a comprehensive manner the acknowledgement and advocation of women's rights in the city. This way, public policies are planned and executed to guarantee that women can decide about themselves, women receive comprehensive assistance when they suffer any type of violence, by providing free legal advice and psychological counseling. The Secretariat also works on the economic autonomy of women, to ensure their freedom of choice and elimination of violence towards women through awareness activities with children and teenagers.
The program is carried out from the Secretariat of Women and interacts with the Undersecretariat of Social Economy and the Secretariat of Economy and Finance, entities that compose the assessing committee for productive projects presented by women. Among the duties of this committee are the advice and approval of projects. Through different municipal areas, different training courses are given: with the Office of Bromatology, workshops on food handling were given so that women could obtain or renew their Health record, necessary for undertakings related to food; with the Traffic Authority, a training course of Professional drivers was carried out with the purpose of enabling women to drive large vehicles.
The Secretariat of Women was created by Municipal Regulation No. 4976, by Municipal Decree No. 2007/2015 the Program of Comprehensive Education and Promotion of Rights is established. Then, Mayor Walter Vuoto subscribed the Municipal Decree No. 1375/2017 that defines implementation of the program and its goals. Through Annex I Resolution S.M. No. 0002/2017, the Secretariat of Women regulated the “Mujer Emprendedora” (Female Entrepreneur Program) Moreover, Resolution S.M No. 0005/2017 and its amendments No. 0010/2018 and No. 0032/2018 set forth the composition of the Project Approval Committee.
Women
Advice
Financial/legal/technical assistence
Education and training
Creation of entity/plan/programme
Firstly, a form was generated so that women can apply for grants and prepare a project with which their business plan and development strategies could be evaluated. Furthermore, a committee was formed, composed by personnel of the Secretariat of Women, Under Secretariat of Social Economy, and Secretariat of Economy and Finance to assess and approve projects. At the same time, training and workshops were organized on different subjects to add to the professionalization of female entrepreneurs. Expo Mujer was created- a space for women to show and market their products, to meet and generate business among them-; and the digital platform “Nosotras Hacemos” (We Do) was set up, where customers can contact female entrepreneurs and know about their production. Likewise, grants were given during an event where female entrepreneurs, officers, local and political referents participated, and where the beneficiaries generated contacts, established networks, and continued to participate in the different stages of the program.
Locally, there was no similar policy with the goal of economic autonomy of women. In fact, other secretariat under the Municipality has recently implemented a similar program open to the general community. On the other hand, the Río Grande municipality, a city near Ushuaia, also plans to include the Program during 2020. The Female Entrepreneur Program is innovative regarding the comprehensive approach to the problem, by adding training, education, tools for production and generation of marketing spaces.
For the implementation of training courses that enable women to improve their projects, marketing and sales -besides optimizing the business structure- collaboration agreements were signed with the Council of Economic Sciences, Universidad Nacional de Tierra del Fuego (UNTDF), the provincial government, professionals from different fields and municipal areas. Through the Council of Economic Sciences, different accounting and planning tools are offered for the drawing up of undertakings, which allows making retirement and health care contributions. Together with the UNTDF, workshops are provided to optimize the undertaking structure, make business plans, evaluate costs, improve the organizational chart and task development. In coordination with the provincial government, and with specific professionals, training courses for new occupations (hydroponics, professional conduction, smooth micro-cement, marketing, among others) are developed with the aim of equalizing employment market opportunities.
One of the implementation stages of the Female Entrepreneur Program consists in the meeting of women applying for grants with a committee composed of three representatives from the Secretariat of Women, Undersecretariat of Social Economy under the Secretariat of Social Policies, and the Secretary of Economy and Finance, respectively. In such meeting, the proposal is fully evaluated, as well as its projection and expectations; and recommendations are made to contribute to the success of the project and lifespan in the long run.
The Female Entrepreneur Program has the involvement of, somehow, the entire personnel of the Secretariat of Women, the Comprehensive Training and Promotion of Rights Program, the Office of Administration and the Comprehensive Women and Direct Actions Articulations Program. Personnel from different municipal areas also participate according to the program line, for example, staff from the Secretariat of Economy and Finance, the Office of Purchase, the Storage Department, Accounting, Treasury, and their corresponding administrative offices, the IT Office, among others. Regarding the technical resources involved, in Ushuaia Municipality, two electronic platforms are used, namely: the File Management GEN system, and the Financial GEN that includes the budget, purchase and accounting system, among others. Regarding the budget resources allowing to carry out the Female Entrepreneur Program, 2019 budget considers $2,250,000 for delivery of non refundable grants in kind, $730,000 for the fourth edition of the Expo Mujer and $265,000 for training courses and workshops.
In the case of grants delivery, there is a preliminary evaluation in the interview with the committee and each project is evaluated. Six months after the delivery of materials, tools and supplies to female entrepreneurs, a report is drafted to assess how training, workshops and grants influenced the project. This is done with the purpose of getting to know if the goals set when presenting the productive projects were met. By 2020, a second stage of the Female Entrepreneur Program is expected, to perform a comprehensive evaluation of projects, developing a form to understand the progress of the project and new needs that might appear.
Local goverment
Since the creation of the program in 2017 to this date, a significant growth was verified as regards the participation of women in all lines of support of the Female Entrepreneur Program. In the first Expo Mujer held in 2017, 51 women participated; in 2018, 114 female entrepreneurs participated; in the third edition, with a duration of two days, nearly 150 female exhibitors participated, with an attendance of more than 10,000 visitors; and in the last edition in 2019, 150 female entrepreneurs and more than 15,000 visitors attended the Expo Mujer. In 2017, 12 women filed the form and project to access the grant, 67 in 2018 and 539 in 2019. During 2018, 48 grants were given, and in 2019, 138. Participation in different workshops and training courses also increased since the program dissemination, with a total of 800 women. These spaces have promoted networking among several female entrepreneurs, in a joint effort to mutually empower their projects through team work.
The promotion of the Program is made through different means of communication, TV, print, radio and digital media, both public and private, by means of advertising, newspaper articles and testimonies of women who participate in the program. Dissemination is also generated directly with the possible recipients of the program through the attention of the Secretariat personnel, in the headquarters and during specific activities.

Instrumentos

5.1 End all forms of discrimination against all women and girls everywhere in the world.

5.2 Eliminate all forms of violence against all women and girls in the public and private spheres, including trafficking and sexual and other types of exploitation.

5.a Undertake reforms to give women equal rights to economic resources, as well as access to ownership and control over land and other forms of property, financial services, inheritance and natural resources, in accordance with national laws.

5.b Enhance the use of enabling technology, in particular information and communications technology, to promote the empowerment of women.

5.c Adopt and strengthen sound policies and enforceable legislation for the promotion of gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls at all levels.

8.3 Promote development-oriented policies that support productive activities, decent job creation, entrepreneurship, creativity and innovation, and encourage the formalization and growth of micro-, small- and medium-sized enterprises, including through access to financial services.

10-2 By 2030, empower and promote the social, economic and political inclusion of all, irrespective of age, sex, disability, race, ethnicity, origin, religion or economic or other status.

A - Full integration of population dynamics into sustainable development with equality and respect for human rights.
E - Gender equality
American Convention on Human Rights
• Inter-American Convention on the Prevention, Punishment, and Eradication of Violence against Women (Convention of Belém do Pará)
Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW).
Declaration on the Elimination of Violence Against Women.
Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR).
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).
International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR).

Location

Region
Latin America and the Caribbean
Range of Demographic Size
50,000 to 99,999 inhabitants (small intermediate)

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