Group of internally displaced women receive training in entrepreneurship skills to support their livelihood projects

Women’s economic rights, business planning, entrepreneurship, leadership, cooperation and basic taxation requirements were some of the key topics discussed during a three-day intensive training organized for 25 IDP women from the regions of Shida Kartli, Kvemo Kartli and Samegrelo.

Beneficiaries of the training have all applied for small livelihood grants under the EU-funded FAO-UN Women project with the objective to turn their assets into sustainable businesses. The training, entitled “Supporting of Small Scale Entrepreneurship of Internally Displaced Women”, was organized by UN Women and the local NGO Taso Foundation with joint funding from the EU and UN Women. The training exposed the female participants to a variety of interactive methods that successfully engaged the trainees, who had little to no entrepreneurship experience.

IDP women who participated in the training sessions have been engaged in the social mobilization process led by the Taso Foundation. The training topics were identified following a needs assessment conducted as a part of the social mobilization work.

“When I saw the statistics of women's employment and their low economic activity rate, I felt it was very important to involve even more women in the implementation of our project idea,” stressed Gvantsa Kikaleishvili, from Khobi IDP settlement.“It is very good that the project provides the opportunity to get funding for social grants. We are planning to apply for a grant to rehabilitate a kindergarten in our settlement, which will bring benefit to the whole community and give some free time to women who can use it to become more socially and economically active.”

As a result of the training, IDP women have enhanced their understanding of gender equality and women’s empowerment issues. They have acquired knowledge on small-scale business development, and they visited Techno Park Georgia, where they were exposed to innovative business models and ideas. The trainees were also informed about different State agricultural and non-agricultural programmes to give them the possibility and skills to eventually apply for additional funding.

The training is fully aligned with the newly adopted National Action Plan of Georgia for 2016-2017 on Women, Peace and Security, which calls for providing trainings for IDP and conflict-affected women in entrepreneurship, business and other skills to start small businesses.