Simon White, Managing Director of Southern African IDEAS, has been appointed the Project Leader in the above research project, which is implemented by the Blueprint group.

The objective of the project is to inform the Department of Trade and Industry’s preparation of a revised Strategic Framework on Gender and Women’s Economic Empowerment that will ensure that women entrepreneurs are able to expand opportunities to participate in, benefit from, and contribute to economic growth. This research is the starting point for developing a new participatory model of economic empowerment for women. The project will contribute to updating information on the current challenges facing women entrepreneurs. It will describe how gender-mainstreaming interventions can be promoted within programmes run by the dti. It will also develop a set of baselines that can assist in the effective monitoring and evaluation of these interventions and policies.

The results of the project, including the provincial focus group discussions, will contribute to updating information on the current challenges facing women entrepreneurs. It will take into account:

• Established businesses versus start-up businesses;
• Urban versus rural entrepreneur needs; and
• Women within male dominated sectors.

The project will describe how gender mainstreaming can be promoted within Department of Trade and Industry. It will develop a set of baselines that can assist in the effective monitoring and evaluation of these interventions and policies.