Service Centers for Women Entrepreneurs

Service Centers for Women Entrepreneurs

web: www.csemca.org

Results All CSEMs have achieved important results in terms of providing financing and technical assistance to entrepreneurs in Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua. However, the most strategic result has been the positioning of the CSEMs in the provincial planning, coordination and decision making mechanisms, which has generated positive results in the territories. Apart from the strong linkages formed with leading national mechanisms in support of MSME support policies, which has permitted a qualitative and quantitative increase in provided services, the CSEMs have: l Signed cooperation agreements with public

and private stakeholders l Integrated the gender perspective into

local development plans l Promoted the design of local policies to

support MSMEs l Strengthened strategic business ventures

that cover a diverse range of products with a territorial identity. l Promoted the participation of women

entrepreneurs in fairs and sales events. l Fostered cooperation networks between

local actors and mechanisms that provide entrepreneurial services. l Promoted the exchange of information

between women entrepreneurs on a wide range of issues l Facilitated information on accessing

financial and entrepreneurial services l Trained women entrepreneurs in risk and

Contacts

El Salvador CSEM Sonsonate (ADEL Sonsonate) 9ª calle y Avenida Morazán No. 5-1 Instalaciones del ex-DUA Sonsonate, El Salvador +00 503 24291990 y 24291355 semsonsonate@yahoo.com

Guatemala CSEM Chiquimula (ADEL ASEDECHI) 13a. Avenida 4-41 zona 1 Chiquimula, Guatemala +00 502 79427434 csem@adesechi.org CSEM Huehuetenango (ADEL ASDECOHUE) Costado Sur, Campo de Aviación, Las Lagunas, zona 10, Huehuetenango, Guatemala +00 502 51620807 csemhuehuetenangogt@gmail.com CSEM Sololá (Grupo gestor y mancomunidades Mankatitlán y Manklalaguna) +00 502 51538408 csem.solola@gmail.com

CSEM Morazán (ADEL Morazán) Km. 165, Carretera a San Francisco Gotera Cantón El Triunfo, Caserío Los López Morazán, El Salvador +00 503 26457000 csem_morazan@yahoo.com

Honduras

CSEM San Marcos (Grupo gestor) +00 502 58312471 csem.sanmarcosgt@gmail.com

CSEM Ocotepeque (ADED Valle) Casa del Maestro PRICPHMA, Barrio San Andrés Nueva Ocotepeque, Ocotepeque Honduras +00 504 6533686 msemocotopeque@yahoo.es

CSEM El Quiché (ADEL Ixcán) +00 502 77832311/ 77557761 CSEM-QUICHE@adel.org.gt CSEM Totonicapán (CDRO) Paraje Tierra Blanca, cantón Chuicruz Apartado postal # 23 Código Postal 08001 Totonicapán, Guatemala +00 502 77662177 / 2175/ 2179 csemtotonicapan@gmail.com CSEM Alta Verapaz (ADP) 4ta. calle 1-70 zona 3 Cobán, Alta Verapaz, Guatemala +00 502 79521623 csem_altaverapaz@adpverapaz.org

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Analyzed the need for support mechanisms that enable women to combine personal and family life with needs related to running a business.

At the territorial level, the CSEMs form part of the Local Economic Development Agencies (LEDAs) or other territorial institutions such as Local Economic Development networks or commonwealths of municipalities. The insertion in these broader institutional frameworks allows the increase, impact and quality of the services that aim to meet women’s demands.

CSEM Valle (ADED Valle) +00 504 7954713 sem_valle@yahoo.es

Nicaragua

What is a LEDA?

CSEM León (ADES León y oficina enlace CSEM de la Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Nicaragua, UNAN-León) +00 505 8339-3349 semadesleon@yahoo.es

A LEDA is an instrument through which the main local public and private institutions maximize the economic potential of the covered territory, utilizing existing natural, human and institutional resources.

Escuela de Formación para Agencias de Desarrollo Económico Local y Centro de Servicios para los Emprendimientos de las Mujeres (ECCA) +00 503 26540582 escuela.ecca@gmail.com skype: ecca-morazan

The LEDA:

Photographies: Un Women / Claudio Vásquez Bianchi

Supported the drafting of sustainability and commercialization plans

The CSEMs operate in Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua. They act as focal points for any initiative that aims to foster economic development in the territories, and facilitate the local level implementation of national and regional programs in support of micro, small and medium enterprises with a focus on women.

CSEM La Unión(ADEL Morazan) 3a Calle Poniente 1-4 Barrio El Centro La Unión y 2a. Avenida Norte +00 503 26457000 csem_launion@yahoo.com

opportunity management l

The Service Centers for Women Entrepreneurs (CSEM, by acronym in Spanish) are territorial entities that provide technical and financial services to foster women´s business initiatives in a way that contributes to the creation of competitive employment and income that boosts local economies. The CSEMs were created for the purpose of empowering women and strengthening women’s participation in the economic governance of their territories. The Centers are linked to the public institutional framework and decision making mechanisms at the local level, and seek to influence national development policies that favor women’s access to financial and entrepreneurial resources.

Cover picture: potter woman from Ocotepeque, Honduras (archive CSEM).

In this page: Carmen Yaxón, from the Association of Mayan Women (Asociación de Mujeres Mayas) Oxlajuj E. from Sololá, Sololá.

Design by Tritón imagen & comunicaciones / www.tritoncomunica.com

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Promotes the joint participation of all actors envolved in territorial development and the implemention of projects and initiatives;

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Serves as a point of reference for all national and international support initiatives in the territory, in order to avoid the scattering of resources;

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Provides support to the population in a comprehensive manner in order to ensure that, for example, the available financial services are related to the supply of available technical assistance, and services related to commercialization and innovation;

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Allows the population that lacks access to credit, technical assistance services and commercialization to create micro and small businesses or cooperatives and to be integrated into the productive chains of the territory.

Woman from the group Jehová Jireh, from the region Los Puentes, village Serchil, municipailty of San Marcos, reviewing the trees of the tree nursery that they own.

The context

What are the functions of a CSEM?

The first CSEMs were created in 2006, as part of the Local Economic Development Agencies (LEDAs) as a response to the unsatisfied demands for entrepreneurial services by urban and rural women entrepreneurs.

In Central American countries, micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) represent 97% of the business activity in the sub region, adding up to 33% of GDP, creating 11.09 billion jobs and employing 54% of the Economically Active Population.

The importance of functions of the CSEMs in the Central American context is demonstrated by the increase in the number of CSEMs from five to thirteen in four years (2006-2010).

Furthermore, the MSMEs represent 80% of intraregional trade, equivalent to 27% of the total exports of the Central American countries. However, national economic policies underestimate the decisive role of MSMEs, prioritizing the promotion of large enterprises and the attraction of foreign investment. In the same way, the role played by women entrepreneurs in the Central American economies is highly underestimated.

l Research on territorial economic potential, inventories of businesses, georeferencing and the analysis of productive chains using a territorial and gender approach, in collaboration with centers for applied research.

Official statistics show the feminization of the base of the business pyramid in the region.

Practically 60% of micro businesses (establishments with one to four employees) are business initiatives created and managed by women. They are of crucial relevance, since close to 50 % of the economically active female population in the non-agricultural sector works in micro businesses.

l The coordination and dissemination of information regarding programs and projects implemented by public and private institutions that provide financial and entrepreneurial services. l The coordination and management of cooperation agreements with local, national and international organizations.

In this framework, the LEDAs and CSEMs answer the need to provide services to micro, small and medium enterprises in a way that enables the development of territorial potential and the boosting of local economies. The CSEMs respond to the demands for strengthening women’s businesses and adopting inclusive territorial planning mechanisms.

l Support businesses that show expansion potential, in the framework of development plans and programs, and their integration into production chains; l Training services for the development of entrepreneurial skills and business management.

A CSEM is a territorial structure because:

What problems do the CSEMs solve?

l It is designed to support women entrepreneurs in establishing and maintaining relations to the main public and private actors committed to economic development

l The difficulty to organize and form groups that allow greater contractual strength in relation to suppliers and clients, improving the quality of products and their positioning in the market.

l It possesses the technical capacity to provide timely and strategic information as well as financial and entrepreneurial services, adapted to the needs of its users, and to channel credit funds to support the growth of users’ business initiatives.

l The difficulty to access credits, education and training.

l It has the technical capacity to integrate women’s economic initiatives into the productive chains of the territory, also facilitating South-South and South-North technical and commercial relations. l It develops and strengthens the capacities of existing organizations (associations, cooperatives and businesses) and positions the women entrepreneurs’ initiatives in development plans and the public policies of their countries.

l The drafting and follow-up of business plans and support to their presentation to financial and development institutions.

A CSEM helps to solve complex problems of women entrepreneurs, such as:

l Technical assistance tailored to meet the needs of women entrepreneurs; facilitation of processes to secure access to assets and consolidate businesses; information on procedures for starting up businesses, education and work, laws and regulations, and national programs. l Positioning the contributions and needs of women in policies and economic development plans, which implies organizing events to discuss and reflect on gender, economy and local development.

l The concentration of women-led businesses in the informal sector, considered irrelevant for the national economy and almost absent in statistics and, therefore, seldom taken into account in the formulation of public policies. l The absence of systematic information, records and databases, which conceals the existence, value and potential of women-led businesses. This limitation results in local development plans being created and implemented without realizing the significance of women’s businesses and undervaluing women entrepreneurs as an economic force.

l Promoting the role of women in local economies.

In Order: gruop of women who work in making syrup, peppers, carotene and honey in San Marcos; from a group of weavers from the association SOAMAC, from San Isidro Chamac, municipality of San Pedro Sacatepéquez, San Marcos; Josefina Méndez and her peers during the production, processing, and packaging of “Rosa de Jamaica” (Habiscus) in the Village, El Limonar, Jacaltenango, Huehuetenango; And Women from the group of embroiders from the hamlet Buena Vista, municipality of Esquipulas Palo Gordo, making a crochetted finishing for a table cloth. They belong to the Association for Holistic Community Development (Asociación de Desarrollo Integral Comunitario- ADICO).

Pottery. Tectitán, Huehuetenango. Antonia Simón Gonzáles, Emelia Isabel Robledo Gutiérrez y María Elena Simón Pérez.

The CSEMS in practice The CSEMs operate in the facilities of Local Economic Development Agencies (LEDAs) or other territorial institutions such as Local Economic Development networks, commonwealths of municipalities or universities. Each CSEM has a technical team, coordinated by a professional with leadership skills, the ability to liaise and establish relationships with territorial actors, and with experience in promoting local economic development. The fact that the CSEMs are part of LEDAs, which include actors from the private and public sectors, facilitates the establishment of close relations with local and national entities in charge of supporting local economic development processes.

All CSEMs offer their services in the framework of national policies in support of micro and small businesses, establishing collaboration agreements with relevant national institutions as well as local and national mechanisms for the empowerment of women.

The main strength of the CSEM is its commitment to operate in the territory in coordination with other public and private institutions linked to economic development. The nature of the services provided depend on territorial and environmental characteristics, such as the institutions and actors with presence in the territory, the financial system, the level of organization of women and local infrastructure.