Empowering Women in Southern Serbia to Start and Manage Their Own Businesses
On May 30 and 31 and June 1, 2026, within the project “My Idea, My Business: Project to Empower Women for Entrepreneurship and Climate Change Resilience in Southern Serbia”, the Center for Democracy Foundation organized the “Start Me Up” training on starting and managing a business.
The intensive three-day program entitled “Launch Your Idea: First Steps Towards a Sustainable Business” was implemented in Vrnjačka Banja and Kruševac, bringing together 19 motivated women from the Rasina District with the aim of strengthening their economic position and enhancing their entrepreneurial skills.
The program, focused on women’s entrepreneurship, the promotion of equal opportunities, and gender equality, included modules dedicated to the development of business ideas, basic management skills, financial planning, and marketing, with particular emphasis on the concepts of social entrepreneurship and sustainable business models.
💡 What did the participants achieve?
Through dynamic workshops, mentoring sessions, and interactive discussions, 19 women acquired practical knowledge on starting a business, social entrepreneurship, and management skills. The participants developed their business ideas and jointly prepared business plans for small enterprises.
💬 “This training provided me with the skills I needed and gave me the confidence to move forward. What until yesterday was only an idea is now becoming a realistic plan for self-employment in my town,” shared one of the training participants.
🌱 What changes are we bringing to the community?
Young women often face barriers when entering the world of business. Through this training, they have been genuinely empowered with the knowledge and skills needed to start and manage sustainable businesses. The economic empowerment of women and support for vulnerable groups are key to social inclusion and the active participation of citizens in the development of their local communities.
🧩 What are the next steps?
Our participants will continue working on refining their ideas and applying the entrepreneurial skills they have acquired. For other social actors, this is a call to support women’s and social entrepreneurship in their communities, because economically empowered women build stronger and more just societies.
✨ The “My Idea, My Business: Project to Empower Women for Entrepreneurship and Climate Change Resilience in Southern Serbia” is implemented by the Center for Democracy Foundation with the financial support of the European Association for Local Democracy (ALDA) within the BOOST project, funded by the Agence Française de Développement (AFD).
Center for Democracy Foundation
