Women Entrepreneurs Readiness and Empowerment in Ukraine

Women Entrepreneurs Readiness and Empowerment in Ukraine

The Women Entrepreneurs Readiness and Empowerment in Ukraine project promotes inclusive economic development by directly supporting women-led SMEs and women-focused Business Support Organizations (WBSOs), who play a pivotal role in driving resilience, regional cooperation, and EU single market readiness in Ukraine’s private sector. 

The project will focus on supporting businesses in the five export priority sectors: food processing, textiles and apparel, wood and furniture, ICT, and electrical equipment.   

Through a tailored hybrid learning program, online and offline networking sessions and exchange trips to EU business ecosystems, the project will strengthen structural collaboration between WBSOs and SMEs, raise awareness on how EU policies affect Ukrainian businesses, facilitate forming interregional peer networks, actively connect Ukrainian economic actors to their counterparts in the EU and prepare participants for EU integration challenges and opportunities. 

Key information

  • Duration

    01.12.2025 to 31.12.2026

  • Supporting

    Up to 45 women-led businesses and women-focused Business Support Organizations (WBSOs) 

  • Direct support

    Training, market access, product and network development 

Objectives

Advancing the resilient economic recovery and EU accession in Ukraine through fostering durable EU-Ukraine linkages, enhancing the inclusion of women in business, and facilitating adoption of EU standards and procedures.

  • Locations

    Ukraine (Dnipro, Ivano-Frankivsk, Kharkiv, Khmelnytskyi, Lviv, Odesa, Poltava, Rivne and Vinnytsia).

  • Targeted SDGs

    SDG Goal 5 - Gender equality SDG Goal 8 - Decent work and economic growth SDG Goal 9 - Industry, innovation and infrastructure SDG Goal 17 - Partnerships for the goals

Program components

Business Development Training

Access to five thematic learning modules that combine live expert-led training sessions with self-paced learning content on topics of EU market structures, digitalization, sector-specific regulations, brand positioning for the EU market, sustainability, logistics and documentation, and market selection strategies. 

Market Access trip 

Fully-funded trip to EU business hubs in 2026 to explore market opportunities, exchange knowledge and best practices, and create meaningful connections to build collaborations. The trip schedules are curated based on the needs and challenges of the participants. 

Networking support 

Regular organized peer-to-peer feedback and exchange sessions, online and offline networking opportunities, and access to a global network of businesses and business support organizations. 

Bootcamp

In-person training bootcamps covering business development topics for SMEs and Women-focused Business Support Organizations, with the goal of refining business model and accelerating business development, tailored to the needs of the participants.

Find out more

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For Women-focused Business Support Organizations (WBSOs)

Open to Ukraine-based organizations that actively provide support services for SMEs in Ukraine, with a particular focus on women-led businesses. 

 

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For women-led SMEs

Open to Ukraine-based SMEs that are ready to scale internationally and operating in the five priority export sectors: food processing, textiles and apparel, wood and furniture, ICT, and electrical equipment. 

Coming soon. 

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    Why “Women Entrepreneurship Readiness and Empowerment in Ukraine”?

    Improving the internationalization-readiness

    and global brand positioning of women-led SMEs in five strategic expert sectors in  nine regions in Ukraine. 

    Empowering Ukrainian women entrepreneurs and their support organizations

    in building a gender-responsive understanding of and approach to the EU single market and its entry pathways.  

    Strengthen Ukraine’s women-led business ecosystem 

    by boosting institutional capacity among women-focused Business Support Organizations (WBSOs) and building stronger channels for trade, markets and investments that enable women-led SMEs to plug into EU value chains.  

    Program partners

    This project is implemented by the non-profit organization enpact within the framework of the international cooperation program STEP IN 2 EU. This program is funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and supported by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH. 

    empowering entrepreneurship
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