Ulaanbaatar
EBRD’s Women in Business Programme launched
Economy
Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/ Minister
of Labour and Social Protection, head of the programme steering committee
A.Ariunzaya took part in the opening ceremony of the European Bank for
Reconstruction and Development (EBRD)’s Women in Business Programme (WiB) in
Central Asia.
In her opening remarks, the
Minister emphasized that the government of Mongolia is working towards an
objective to move from welfare to work, announcing that the National Council
for Employment is implementing the ‘Women's employment support program’ in
2022.
Minister A.Ariunzaya stressed the
significance of implementing WiB that provides effective and equal opportunities
to women through funding, consulting, and policy discussions in Mongolia with
support from donors.
The programme launch took
place during a meeting under the topic "How EBRD can support women-owned businesses". Co-funded
by Women Entrepreneurs Finance Initiative and EBRD, WiB aims to support
capacity building of women through increased economic opportunities.
EBRD is successfully
implementing the programme in Kazakhstan and Tajikistan since 2015 and deems it
significant to other Central Asian countries and Mongolia.
The Women in Business
Programme in Central Asia plans to reach around 7,000 women-owned small and
medium enterprises in Mongolia, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan that all
face gender- and policy-related issues in finding funding, knowhow and business
opportunities.
The programme opening ceremony
was attended by U.S. and British Ambassadors, EBRD Managing Director for
Central
Asia Zsuzsanna Hargitai, Head of EBRD in Mongolia Hannes Takacz, EBRD Managing
Director for Financial Institutions Francis Malige, Head of Women Entrepreneurs
Finance Initiative Secretariat, and representatives of Mongolia government and
non-government organizations, non-bank financial institutions, and companies.
