Series of fairs showcasing women entrepreneurs’ products: A successful partnership between UN Women and Bazari

UN Women in Georgia, in partnership with companies that are signatories to the Women’s Empowerment Principles (WEPs), supports the implementation of impactful initiatives aimed at promoting the activities of women entrepreneurs. This objective underpinned the partnership with the multi-concept food court Bazari, which commenced in March 2025 and continued through the end of December. Within the framework of the cooperation, Bazari provided free-of-charge space for vendor fairs, enabling women entrepreneurs to showcase and sell their products.

The fairs were organized once a month and ran for three days each time, from Friday to Sunday. In total, up to 330 women entrepreneurs participated in the initiative. Participants included single mothers, women with many children, women raising children with disabilities, refugees, probationers and former inmates, domestic workers and women engaged in informal employment. Fair participants offered visitors a diverse range of products, including food and beverages, souvenirs, handmade items and jewellery. For many of them, this marked their first time participating in such a fair.

Women entrepreneurs noted that the initiative proved to be a valuable opportunity to boost sales and build meaningful networks.

“Fairs organized by UN Women that support the development and promotion of women entrepreneurs are timely and much needed. Personally, this initiative has given me a great deal: I have established new customer contacts, received orders, and increased my visibility, credibility and brand recognition. I would be very happy if this series of fairs continues,” says Tatia Paksvashvili, who makes handmade jewellery under the brand “Gurabani”. She has participated multiple times in UN Women–supported fairs.

The initiative created an important new platform for participants to present their products, engage directly with customers, establish useful connections, and strengthen their presentation and other essential skills. Notably, participating women entrepreneurs also increased their engagement on their social media pages, which is a particularly important outcome given that many of them primarily sell their products through online platforms.

In parallel with the fairs, and based on the needs and interests of women entrepreneurs, initiatives were planned for them to obtain useful knowledge and experience. Practical workshops enabled participants to acquire new and important skills related to branding and identity, product photography and effective presentation of their products on social media platforms.

UN Women and Bazari will continue this initiative in 2026, further supporting women entrepreneurs’ access to new opportunities.

The cooperation between UN Women and Bazari is implemented within the framework of the UN Women programme “Women’s Increased Leadership for Resilient and Peaceful Societies”, generously funded by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark and implemented by UN Women offices in Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine, with support from the UN Women Regional Office for Europe and Central Asia.