Empowering Women in Southern Serbia for Entrepreneurship and Climate Resilience
The Center for Democracy Foundation is implementing in 2025 and 2026 the project “My Idea, My Business: Project to Empower Women for Entrepreneurship and Climate Change Resilience in Southern Serbia.”
We are committed to empowering women and civil society organizations in the Rasina District (Kruševac) and the Pirot District (Pirot) to start and manage their own businesses / social enterprises, as well as to strengthening women engaged in agriculture to build resilience to climate change.
Local civil society organizations, Peščanik (Kruševac) and Ternipe (Pirot), act as our focal contact points within the community.
How do we contribute to the local community?
We support women beneficiaries in local communities to respond to new business challenges (artificial intelligence, climate change, changes in the labor market, etc.) and contribute to the creation of a more enabling local environment for women’s entrepreneurship.
We contribute to sustainable local and national development, gender equality, poverty reduction, and social inclusion. By bringing together and engaging local actors in identifying policies and measures for improving women’s entrepreneurship, we foster social cohesion, nurture a democratic culture, and promote the values of the European Union, the UN 2030 Agenda, and the principle “Leave No One Behind” (LNOB).
What do we achieve?
We strengthen women’s entrepreneurship by:
- increasing their entrepreneurial capacities;
- developing skills to overcome the impacts of climate change in agribusiness and rural development;
- proposing and advocating for the improvement of existing local policies for women’s entrepreneurship.
Improving the position of women in the labor market and increasing the number of women who own their own businesses will reduce the existing gender gap in Serbia’s economy. Reducing the gender gap will contribute to poverty reduction, decreasing gender discrimination, and increasing the standard of living of citizens.
What do women gain from this project?
Through trainings and mentoring support, we empower 30 women aged 20 to 40, who enhance their knowledge on starting and running a business, developing initial business plans, and similar topics. Special attention is given to women from vulnerable groups (single-parent families, persons with disabilities, Roma women). In the Rasina District, the project additionally includes 12 women engaged in agribusiness, who strengthen their knowledge on building resilience to climate change in carrying out their economic activities.
We also contribute to raising awareness and understanding among local actors (decision-makers, public officials, companies and business associations, civil society organizations) about the importance of improving the environment for the development of women’s entrepreneurship.
What impact do we achieve in the community?
- Improved knowledge of women on business development and management;
- Enhanced understanding of the impact of climate change and the resilience measures required in agribusiness;
- Encouragement of local actors to improve local policies and support for women’s entrepreneurship;
- Increased public awareness of the importance of reducing the gender gap in the economy;
- Promotion of European Union values (gender equality, sustainable development, etc.) and policies at the national and local levels.
“My Idea, My Business: Project to Empower Women for Entrepreneurship and Climate Change Resilience in Southern Serbia” is financed by the European Association for Local Democracy (ALDA) within the BOOST project, funded by the French Development Agency (AFD).
Center for Democracy Foundation
