Within the scope of ENHANCER Project, “Women Entrepreneurship Development” webinar was held.
As part of the Enhancer Project Women’s Entrepreneurship Webinar held on March 8, 2021, organized by the International Center for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD) and the Republic Of Turkey Ministry of Industry and Technology, Gila Benmayor and Etkiyap Chair of the Executive Committee Şafak Müderrisgil talked about Women’s Entrepreneurship. You can get detailed information about the Enhancer Project here.
In the webinar moderated by ICMPD Senior Project Manager Pınar Yapanoğlu, where the current position of women in the entrepreneurship ecosystem is analyzed, the problems are explained and the steps to be taken are discussed, women took the floor, unanimously agreed that more effort should be made, including men in order to increase the participation of women who do not even reach 40 percent in the labor force.
Pınar Yapanoğlu, in her opening speech, shared brief information about the ENHANCER Project, which covers the provinces of Istanbul, Şanlıurfa, Gaziantep, Adana, Mersin, Bursa, İzmir, Ankara, Konya, Kayseri, Hatay, and that women and young entrepreneurs are among the target groups of this project. She also stated that it is aimed that at least 25% of women benefit from the activities in total.
In her speech at the webinar, Şafak Müderrisgil reminded that the theme of 2021 was determined as “Women’s Leadership” by the UN Women and emphasized that it is necessary to think about the choice of women’s leadership as the theme while the world is struggling with major crises such as the climate crisis and covid-19. In her speech, “When you empower women, you strengthen the society.” Şafak Müderrisgil continued, citing the reaction between the climate crisis and gender equality as an example:
Studies show that the most harmed victims of climate change are girls and women. We are faced with a chain reaction: In a society affected by the climate crisis, women are often less educated than men, and therefore less knowledgeable about climate change. She can’t protect herself because she doesn’t have enough information. She has difficulty in protecting herself from death, illness, human rights violations, and violence. Girls and women have to make do with less food in times of crisis and lose their health. Since the unequal impact of climate change on women has been determined by research, we see that women’s empowerment is focused on in the fight against climate change.
Şafak Müderrisgil mentioned that societies made up of strong women will be more resilient to crises, and therefore it is vital that women understand their leadership potential and show their will to develop it, and that establishing a balance of power between men and women will strengthen the society.
