Intervention(s)
This study relies on an experimental impact evaluation that will improve our understanding of how to best contribute to women’s economic empowerment and income generating ability in the region. Since not all women enter the entrepreneurial activity due to the same intrinsic reasons, we explore alternatives that foster the development and/or strengthening of women’s capabilities and skills expected to increase their earnings. We measure the impact of the provision of (i) a traditional hard skills business training program and compare it to the impact of two other programs providing training in (ii) hard and soft skills for the entrepreneurial activity and (iii) soft skills to promote insertion/reinsertion into the labor market. All three training programs are delivered though bimonthly group sessions over the course of 12 months.
The target population are female entrepreneurs who are clients of a well established microfinance institution, Financiera Confianza. We focus on clients who receive credit through the program Palabra de Mujer (PDM), which focuses on women’s economic empowerment through access to group credit and with regular training sessions on financial literacy and entrepreneurship.
The costs of the implementation of the pilot are, for now, shouldered by the funds obtained by the researchers. Consequently, the training is delivered by external facilitators hired by the team. However, Financiera Confianza is interested in scaling up proven successful strategies and incorporating the training modules into its regular services.
The development of the training materials was done by the Inter-American development Bank (IDB), in collaboration with GRADE and the International Youth Foundation (IYF). IYF’s Passport to Success Program provided the curriculum on soft skills.