Press releases

More than 100 Moldovan women attended the event today “Peer-to-peer: a dialogue to shape collective decision-making”. The aim of the virtual meeting was to exchange views with decision-makers, but also to improve managerial skills and capacities to participate in decision-making. The key objective of the event was to increase the skills of women, including women entrepreneurs, affected by the COVID-19 crisis, encourage them to support each other and make their needs heard to decision-makers. The event is part of the actions organised under the project “Measures to address the pressing needs of women and girls who are marginalised or in a vulnerable situation aggravated by Coronavirus (COVID-19)”implemented by ODIMM and UN Women Moldova, with financial support from the Government of Japan.

Opening the event, Secretary General of the Ministry of Economy and Capital, Lilia Palii stressed that the socio-economic empowerment of women remained a priority for the Moldovan government.

“In order to make society sustainable and prosperous, women need support, encouragement and information to engage equally with men in decision-making and in solving community problems. I remain a reliable partner in the development of the entrepreneurial environment, open to cooperation with partners, relevant organisations and business to develop new business support tools. Women want to wish them to remain active, with a spirit of engagement in economic social life, innovative ideas, courage and perseverance. I hope today’s event will build new bridges, identify new opportunities for cooperation to strengthen a strong society!”, stated: The Secretary-General.

Yoshihiro Katayama, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Japan to the Republic of Moldova stated that the initiative, supported by Government of Japan in these difficult times that all humankind is going through, it has produced positive effects and contributes to forging bilateral relations.

“We sincerely appreciate – ODIMM and UN Women for their commitment and effort in delivering the project. It is good to see the results and achievements achieved under this initiative”, declared the Nipon diplomat.

Dominika Stojanoska, Country Representative UN Women Moldova, noted that this pandemic period had exacerbated gender inequalities.

“The crisis has exposed and exacerbated gender inequalities, exposing vulnerabilities in social, political and economic systems. Women remain the hardest hit by this crisis. We want this initiative to become a platform where female entrepreneurs and future business leaders feel comfortable talking, communicating about their needs and contributing ideas and solutions. Solutions that will then become national policies and interventions that benefit women, their families, their businesses and communities in general. We greatly appreciate our partnership with ODSMEs and we sincerely thank the Government of Japan, with the support of which Moldovan women received training and financial support’, he said Dominika Stojanoska.

Please note that due to the project “Measures to address the pressing needs of women and girls who are marginalised or in a vulnerable situation aggravated by COVID-19”, implemented by ODIMM in partnership with UN Women Moldova and the financial support of the Government of Japan, over 600 women participated in 7 training modules online, with different topics such as: financial education, employment, development of pandemic risk management skills, business initiation and management.

ODIMM Director-General Iulia Costin reiterated the importance of this project for the SME sector.

“In the context of the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic crisis, this project is paramount to build resilience and encourage women across the country to realise their social and entrepreneurial potential. During this project we remained impressed by the desire of women to develop personally and professionally, the desire to synchronise their professional career with their role as mothers, wives, employees or even entrepreneurs. And thanks to the financial support provided by the Government of Japan to support the beneficiaries’ own contribution, 40 women in social categories – vulnerable or low income – have managed to realise their dream of starting their own businesses. More than 70 percent of investment projects are developed in rural municipalities. The business areas selected by women are creative and at the same time practical and innovative’, supports ODIMM Director-General Iulia Costin.

Today’s event presented the challenges and existing measures to reduce the negative impact of COVID -19 on women entrepreneurs. Women participants also asked questions and made suggestions to increase access to entrepreneurial development opportunities.