EUROMED ENHANCING OPPORTUNITIES FOR WOMEN IN ECONOMIC LIFE (EOWEL) Projects

Early 2006 seven NGO consortiums started implementing projects aimed at "Enhancing the Opportunities for Women in Economic Life" in the MEDA region. The EOWEL consortia involve 30 organisations, including some partners from Europe, each covering 2 - 5 countries in the region. Through their associate partners 8 MEDA countries are directly covered; Algeria or Syria are covered through the outreach activities of one partner consortium.

Most lead organisations and their associate partners are service oriented development organisations focusing on SME, micro credit and capacity development. Some organisations adopted a more rights oriented approach; others formed partnerships with research institutes, chambers of industry/commerce and media institutes.

The 2 - 3 year cross-country projects cover a wide range of activities, including capacity building to increase women's access to credit and business development services; providing support to women in the start-up micro and small enterprises; providing un-employed women with vocational skills to increase job opportunities; setting up a Mediterranean centre for the promotion and development of home-based working women. Some organisations also work on promoting women's participation in policy debate on economic participation; building national, regional and international business women's networks or support the recognition of women's economic contributions to be reflected in the media.