UN India-NITI Aayog Collaborates To Help Women Entrepreneurs

On Thursday, UN India Business Forum and Women Entrepreneurial Platform of NITI Aayog formed an association to help strengthen women entrepreneurs in their business establishment and upliftment.

UN India-NITI Aayog Collaboration Aims

UN India-NITI Aayog Investor association for women entrepreneurs will bring together key ecosystem stakeholders, including venture capitalists and impact investors, international donor and funding agencies, private sector partners and state governments.

The collaboration aims to reduce gender disparities in start-up investments by providing mentorship and networking opportunities. They will also focus on accelerating financial and market linkages for women entrepreneurs. This collaboration aims to strengthen women’s entrepreneurship by creating a sound ecosystem for investments.

Spark. Scale. Sustain.
We've just launched the @UNinIndia - @NITIAayog Investor Consortium for Women Entrepreneurs at #UNIBF2018! The Consortium aims to strengthen women’s entrepreneurship by creating an enabling ecosystem for investments. pic.twitter.com/NdVx7PuGZR

— United Nations in India (@UNinIndia) June 7, 2018

Women entrepreneurs will be identified through key partners, including WEP, UN Women, and UNDP. The association secretariat will then connect entrepreneurs, as per their requests, with relevant members.

According to a statement at the forum, when women's participation is equal to men, the scenario could add $2.9 trillion to India’s GDP by 2025.

Heartening to see the Investor Consortium Launch. The Women Entrepreneurship Platform will connect women entrepreneurs with organisations onto one platform and enable their financing & marketing. This is a public private partnership in the truest form: @annaroy9, @NITIAayog pic.twitter.com/gpTK5p9dVh

— United Nations in India (@UNinIndia) June 7, 2018

Implementing UN's Sustainable Development Goals

This platform will assist women entrepreneurs in various issues they face while building an enterprise.
An estimated $5 trillion is required in a year for implementing UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) worldwide. Return on investments on implementing the SDGs could be almost $30 billion a year. The UN India Business Forum, financial institutions, and the government, aim to accelerate India’s rapid growth and achieve the SDGs.

The Women Entrepreneurship Platform is a digital infrastructure. Bringing together investors has huge value. More women will lead the way & that way more women will become entrepreneurs: Yuri Afanasiev, @UNinIndia Resident Coordinator at the Investor Consortium launch pic.twitter.com/knWrTmSS2k

— United Nations in India (@UNinIndia) June 7, 2018

In this project, key partners for finance include HDFC, ICICI Bank, State Bank of India, Ambuja Cement, Tata Housing and LinkedIn. As for health and nutrition, Cadila Pharmaceuticals, Philips India, and Tata Chemicals have signed up.

In 2017, Karnataka government launched Elevate 100 programme, in which state provided grants to the entrepreneurs, with a special focus on women entrepreneurs. Indian women entrepreneurs face numerous challenges in raising capital and getting investors. Sustainable development, along with this collaborative initiative, will open up markets worth $12 trillion around the world by 2030.

Also Read: Five Reasons Why Entrepreneurship Is A Great Opportunity For Women

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Bhawana is an intern with SheThePeople.TV