GUWAHATI: New Delhi-based NGO, Dhriiti – The Courage Within, has partnered with German Association for International Cooperation (GIZ India) as the regional agency in the Northeast to implement a project for women entrepreneurs.
As it is, GIZ has been implementing the project, ‘Economic Empowerment of Women Entrepreneurs and Start-ups by Women’ in the country under the name of ‘Her & Now’, on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and in partnership with the Indian Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MoSDE).
The project’s objective is to promote aspiring and existing women entrepreneurs in India. It offers capacity building sessions, one-on-one mentoring and customised support to equip the participating women entrepreneurs to build and grow their enterprises, achieve business milestones and realise their potential.
Post a round of selection interviews, the first cohort is expected to be launched in October this year with residential kickoff camps. The programme will be delivered through four nodal centres – Agartala, Imphal, Jorhat and Shillong.
Over the next two years, Dhriiti would be providing incubation support to 130 women-led start-ups and acceleration support to 40 women-led enterprises in the region.
“Our effort is to reach out to women in the region and help them identify themselves as entrepreneurs and build their capacity to grow and prosper,” Nidhi Gupta, executive director, Dhriiti told reporters at the launch of the programme here on Wednesday.
Dhriiti has been working in the Northeast for the past 15 years.
“We understand that the Northeast has traditionally been a region of strong women empowerment. A large number of traditional businesses here are run by women. However, there is a strong need to build an ecosystem that is conducive for women to not just run their businesses but to flourish,” Julia Karst, head of Her & Now, GIZ, said.
