Classes at the free business school "Ya Sama" (I Myself), designed for aspiring female entrepreneurs, will be held in Minsk on November 23-24, followed by similar courses planned in other Belarusian cities over three winter months, the UNDP in Belarus informed BELTA.
In the capital, the intensive course is organised within the framework of the UNDP and the Ministry of Economy of Belarus project "Small Towns", with financial support from the Russian Federation and the transnational company Visa. Participants will attend 8 training modules on relevant topics, from finding sources of funding to building a personal brand within the business community.
"Supporting women's entrepreneurship has become a new focus within the 'Small Towns' project. In total, over the past two years, the project has conducted more than 60 free seminars in 20 cities across Belarus, equipping over 1,300 aspiring entrepreneurs with business skills. The idea to focus on the female audience emerged naturally – more than half of the participants in the conducted trainings were women. They noted that the knowledge gained at the seminars helped them solidify their decision to start their own businesses and provided an understanding of the opportunities available in our country for this purpose," said Marina Kalinovskaya, Head of the 'Small Towns' project.
This year, a study conducted by the Behavioural Insights Team (BIT) and UNDP in Belarus revealed that seven out of ten women who consider starting their own business ultimately do not proceed. The main reason identified was a lack of self-confidence. "For the new training course, we have engaged experts who know from personal experience the difficulties women face when establishing their businesses. It is no secret that gender stereotypes remain strong in society, including among women themselves. During the intensive course, we will demonstrate that there are no grounds for these fears. The opportunities for men and women to create successful businesses are equal," added Marina Kalinovskaya.