Current Situation
- 1 in 5 working-age women in Nepal are employed
- 8.5 years is the average number of years in business for a Nepali woman.
- Surrogate entrepreneurship is very popular in Nepal, business registered in a women’s name but operated by a male (husband, father or son). Thus, nearly one-third of Nepal’s business is owned by women.
Entrepreneurship is often perceived as a journey out of poverty towards equality. In Nepal, the socio-cultural construct, gender stereotyped work culture and poverty has made it almost impossible for women to realize their potential. But it is no doubt, women entrepreneurship whether small or medium enterprise, can empower and strengthen women in all aspects of their lives.
Project Goal
The ED project aims to ensure economic independence of women by building their skills and providing the necessary support for facilitating women entrepreneurship. The project particularly targets women of marginalized communities and helps them build sources for generating sustainable income through agricultural and non-agricultural ventures.
The project contributes towards the SDG1 2030 by helping women overcome poverty and gain financial security. By 2030, we hope that at least 15% of our target women will undertake entrepreneurship and establish at least one Women Business Centre in all our target communities.
Project Interventions
The Women’s Entrepreneurship Development project provides support through various activities to facilitate women entrepreneurship, including:
- Providing relevant trainings on business, management, and entrepreneurship to women of marginalized communities.
- Building women’s groups for facilitating participation and leadership.
- Providing entrepreneurship skills development training to women groups. Highly motivated women to be an entrepreneur are trained on business skills. They are trained on vocational skills such as farming, livestock management, sewing and embroidery, handicrafts, soap making etc. they would be supported for start-up business and mentor for certain time period. They are supported for microenterprises set up.
Project Achievements
As of 2020, VIN’s Women Entrepreneurship Development Project has been able to impact and develop the potential of 7,322 women in marginalized communities.
Project Resources
Gallery
Research/Reports
To know more about the context of Women Entrepreneurship in Nepal, please visit the following reports:
Let Women Entrepreneurs Rise – By Biswo Poudel
Women Entrepreneurs in Nepal: What Prevents Them from Leading the Sector? – Brenda Bushell
