International Women's Federation of Commerce and Industry, Mongolia
ESCAP

Promoting and upscaling digital solutions for enhancing women enterprise growth and resilience

Through the Women Enterprise Recovery Fund, the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) has supported innovative business models and digital solutions that address the challenges faced by women-owned businesses in South and South-East Asia and the Pacific. ESCAP is launching the Women Entrepreneur Growth Fund in Mongolia in partnership with for the first time, with the International Women’s Federation of Commerce and Industry in Mongolia (IWFCI Mongolia) and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Mongolia.

To date, ESCAP Challenge Funds for women entrepreneurs have provided grants to promote the development of digital and innovative projects and solutions aimed at women-owned businesses in Bangladesh, Cambodia, Fiji, Nepal, Samoa and Vietnam that have suffered significantly from the economic shocks related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“It is clear that women entrepreneurs are a driving force for post-pandemic recovery. That is why ESCAP – over the past few years – has been implementing our Catalyzing Women’s Entrepreneurship programme, which – to date – has directly supported over 100,000 women entrepreneurs and has unlocked over 60 million dollars of capital for women entrepreneurs,” said Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana, United Nations Under Secretary-General and Executive Secretary of ESCAP.

IWFCI Mongolia has been chosen as a National Focal Point to implement the program and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has been one of the supporting pillars for the implementation process.

Proposed solutions under the fund must target women’s businesses in order to aid in their recovery, growth and resilience. The winners of the fund, businesses who provided the best digital solutions within the program’s criteria, will be awarded grants of up to US$10,000. Grant amounts for each project may differ depending on the type of the digital solution, the size of the project, and the required amount of investment.

AREAS OF FOCUS

  • AgriTech
  • Supply chain financing
  • Investability
  • Insurtech
  • Digital tools for Women MSMEs
  • Digital/Financial Literacy
  • And others

Also present at the launch were Battushig Zanabazar, Deputy Director General, Department of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Mongolia, and Baigali Ochkhuu, President of IWFCI Mongolia.

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