Shillong, Oct15: Under the name of ‘Her&Now’, Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH is implementing the project ‘Economic Empowerment of Women Entrepreneurs and Start-ups by Women’ on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and in partnership with the Indian Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MoSDE), to promote aspiring and existing women entrepreneurs in India.
The initiative was kick-started with a Launch Event on 15th October 2019 at Siloam in Meghalaya. The event marked the formal beginning of the programme activities and celebrated women entrepreneurship in the region.
In partnership with MoSDE, Project Her&Now looks at improving the overall framework conditions for women-led businesses in India. Her&Now, together with regional partner organisations, also provides dedicated incubation and acceleration programmes for women entrepreneurs. The project is implemented in Rajasthan, Telangana and Northeast Region.
Dhriiti – The Courage Within, has partnered with GIZ, to be the regional implementation partner in the Northeast Region and lead the incubation and acceleration programmes in the North eastern states.
Post a round of selection interviews, 80 aspiring and existing Women Entrepreneurs have been invited to participate in the first round of the incubation and acceleration programme. These entrepreneurs come from various parts of the Northeast Region with enterprises and business ideas ranging for handcrafted products to organic food to fitness centers.
The programme activities were kick-started with a Launch Event on 15th October 2019 at Siloam. The event marked the formal beginning of the programme activities and also celebrated women entrepreneurship in the region.
Ms. Dekyi Yangchen Dolkar Gyatso, a successful woman entrepreneur from Sikkim who runs the Biksthang Heritage Farmhouse, and Prof. Natalie West Kharkongor, IIM Shillong would be present at the occasion to share their perspectives with the participants. Ms. Julia Karst, Project Head, Her&Now, GIZ would also be present at the occasion along with other representatives from GIZ and Dhriiti.
The launch will be followed by a series of 3 kick-off camps for the first cohort of the programme in Shillong, Imphal and Jorhat during October. Further, through a series of capacity building sessions, individual mentoring and customized support, the programme will equip the participating women entrepreneurs to build and grow their enterprises, achieve business milestones and realize their potential.
Over the next two years, Dhriiti would be providing incubation support to 130 women led start-ups and acceleration support to 40 women led enterprises in the region in 2 cohorts.
