CAIRO, 9 June 2015 - Promoting women's empowerment through inclusive and sustainable industrial development in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region is the aim of a project launched today by the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) in the capital of Egypt, Cairo.

Funded by the Government of Italy, the project will help economically empower women by supporting the creation of enterprises in Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, the State of Palestine and Tunisia.

“We will support the creation and development of women-led businesses in the region by improving the business environment for women entrepreneurs and enhancing the role of women business associations in delivering quality services at national and regional levels. We will also promote business partnership and investment for them through a business-to-business approach and other means,” said Monica Carco of UNIDO, who manages this project.

The first regional steering committee held to launch the project was hosted by the Ministry of Industry, Trade and SMEs of Egypt, and the Italian Embassy. It was attended by representatives of the ministries of industry, as well as women business associations and project counterparts from the six countries involved.

In October, a conference will be organized in Milan on the occasion of the EXPO 2015, which will look at the challenges women in the MENA region encounter when setting up and expanding their businesses and networks.

For more information, please contact:

Monica Carco
Unit Chief, UNIDO Investment and Technology Unit
email