GTZ is now GIZ - Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit
Since 1 January 2011, GIZ has brought together under one roof the long-standing expertise of DED, GTZ and Inwent. For further information, go to www.giz.de.
Since 1 January 2011, GIZ has brought together under one roof the long-standing expertise of DED, GTZ and Inwent. For further information, go to www.giz.de.
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First International Businesswomen Forum in Berlin
On 24–27 November 2010, more than 100 representatives of businesswomen’s associations from 24 countries came to the First International Businesswomen Forum at the House of German Business (Haus der Deutschen Wirtschaft) in Berlin. The conference was held by the Association of German Women Entrepreneurs (VdU) with organisational support from the German non-profit association Global Project Partners e.V. (GPP) and focused on networking, sharing experience and transferring know-how. Thirty-two VdU members joined women entrepreneurs from the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, the Balkan countries, Asia and South Africa. The event was supported by the implementing organisations GTZ and sequa gGmbH on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). Increasing participation by women Promoting the participation of women in economic life is an aim jointly pursued by GTZ and sequa. While sequa focuses on self-governing organisations in the private sector (chambers and associations), GTZ concentrates on policy advice. The Businesswomen Forum provided an excellent opportunity to demonstrate the potential that lies in closer cooperation between GTZ and sequa. Companies need support from their professional associations to be able to develop, but they also need conducive framework conditions, and these can only be achieved in dialogue with policymakers. Women are still largely excluded from economic life in many partner countries. This is unharnessed potential for the economy, stressed Gudrun Kopp, Parliamentary State Secretary at the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), at the opening of the conference. She explained that the economic disadvantages women faced were not only undemocratic, but also short-sighted from a macroeconomic point of view. Practical forums to share experience The opening event was followed by three parallel workshops on topics of relevance to businesswomen throughout the world: ‘Dynamics of Family Business’, ‘Communications Skills and Intercultural Training’ and ‘Modern IT-Means in Web 2.0’. Associations presented their work in a plenary workshop under the heading ‘Projects of Businesswomen Associations Worldwide: Best Practices’. It became apparent that businesswomen from different cultural and politico-economic contexts face the same problems. It is usually only the ways they solve them that are different, and that was what made the event so worthwhile for many participants. Setting up networks ‘When businesswomen come together, I very often find that they team up to find a collective answer to questions asked by individual women, because some businesswoman or other always has the right contact, a good idea or a solution at the ready,’ said VdU chairwoman Petra Ledendecker. Networking between associations and businesswomen is one of the core elements of projects assisted by sequa and GTZ. The conference helped extend the networks and make them more international, also including participants from a project by Inwent – Capacity Building International, Germany. Everyone involved hopes that the International Businesswomen Forum will become a sustainable networking instrument. Group photo of the participants at the First International Businesswomen Forum at the House of German Business in Berlin.
Further Information (in German)
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