Analysis of Swisscontact's Experience in the Promotion of Women Entrepreneurs in Micro-, Small- and Medium Sized Enterprises

This paper investigates Swisscontact's (SC's) experience in the promotion of women entrepreneurs in micro, small, and medium sized enterprises. Specifically, it

• Analyzes SC-programs where the promotion of women entrepreneurs is either a specific component or an integral part of a SME promotion program in Sri Lanka, Nepal, Pakistan, Indonesia, Philippines, Peru, Ecuador, Bolivia, Colombia, Tanzania, and Russia;
• Shows the different strategies, planning and monitoring tools, concrete instruments used, and results achieved for women's entrepreneurs' promotion as well as lessons learnt.

The paper concludes that:

• Promotion of women is a relatively new arena in Swiss SMEP and has achieved little impact so far;
• Within Swisscontact's programs, six countries use an integrated approach mainstreaming women within the existing SMEP programme, and five use a separate program approach for the promotion of women.