India-Germany partnership seeks to prop up businesswomen in Northeast

The ministry of skill development and entrepreneurship (MoSDE), in association with the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), has initiated a programme called ‘Economic Empowerment of Women Entrepreneurs and Start-ups by Women’ to promote aspiring and established women entrepreneurs in the country.

The programme would be implemented by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH under the name of ‘Her&Now’. It would be put to practice in Rajasthan, Telangana and the Northeast Region.

Project ‘Her&Now’ seeks to improve the overall framework for women-led businesses in the country and offer dedicated incubation and acceleration programmes for women entrepreneurs.

The initiative was set in motion earlier this month (October 2019) at Siloam in Meghalaya. Following a set of selection interviews, 80 women entrepreneurs were invited to take part in the incubation and acceleration programme. The participants came from various parts of the Northeast and ideas ranged from handicrafts, organic foods to fitness centres.

Dhriiti – The Courage Within has joined hands with GIZ to be the regional implementation partner in the Northeast. The organisation would be offering incubation support to 130 women-led start-ups over the next two years. It would also provide acceleration support to 40 women-led enterprises in the Northeast in two cohorts.