UNIDO works with leading industry voices to promote international network strengthening women entrepreneurs

UNIDO joined forces with the female factor–a global community for women leaders– to contribute to the Limitless Conference alongside leading voices from the private sector including Google, Mondi, UniCredit, and Boston Consulting Group. The conference brought together more than 1,500 participants and 105 decision-makers from the public and private sector with the goal of equipping women entrepreneurs and aspiring leaders with the know-how to navigate a post-pandemic world.

UNIDO’s involvement stems from the recommendation of the 2020 Women in Industry and Innovation Conference to foster networks that promote deeper and more meaningful participation of women in global and regional networks. Therefore, working with the female factor and Women Business Associations from Jordan, Egypt, Palestine, Morocco, Lebanon and Tunisia, UNIDO organized and facilitated networking lounges with over 150 participants including women entrepreneurs from the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region to discuss learning from failure, business leadership and effective pitching. Points raised included approaches to pitching business ideas, strategies for pursuing international growth, new markets and how to approach investors.

In addition, to boost connections between women’s business networks and associations globally, a virtual roundtable opened by Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg was organized for the leadership of women networks to share experiences and boost inter-network exchanges. These activities were implemented within the framework of the UNIDO project “Promoting women’s empowerment (PWE II) for Inclusive and Sustainable Industrial Development in the MENA Region”, funded by the Italian Government which seeks to empower women through the complementary levers of access to finance, access to markets and better quality and quantity of production in Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Palestine and Tunisia.

For further information contact Bashir Conde (B.Conde [at] unido.org (B[dot]Conde[at]unido[dot]org))