President Bachelet: “There can be no development unless women are integrated into work”
The President of Chile, Michelle Bachelet, together with the Employment and Social Security Minister, Ximena Rincón; and the National Women’s Service Minister, Claudia Pascual, participated this morning in the launch ceremony for the “Más Capaz Mujer Emprendedora” program. This new initiative will provide training and support for women in setting-up and running a small business.
During the ceremony President Bachelet highlighted that “it is very clear that there can be no development unless women are integrated into work; and unless women have equal opportunities they will be unable to achieve economic independence and fulfill their potential.”
“Más Capaz Mujer Emprendedora” is a new initiative by the National Training and Employment Service (SENCE) as part of its employment training program, which is focused on strengthening women’s business skills and supporting their ability to remain in the labor market. This year over 20,000 women throughout Chile will benefit from the initiative, while the government’s target for 2018 is for more than 40,000 women to participate in the program.
Participants will learn how to manage a small business, designing, implementing and evaluating a business model in line with the opportunities available in the market. Similarly, participants will develop stronger entrepreneurial skills in order to set up a profitable small business and/or expand an existing one.
President Bachelet explained that “this is not just about training. At the end of the course participants will be eligible to apply for a $300,000 peso grant (approximately US$450) to set up or strengthen their small business. In addition to this funding, they will be given $3,000 pesos a day (US$4.50) to cover travel and food expenses while attending the training course.”
In her closing remarks the President stressed that “supporting entrepreneurship and hard work is central to our work as Government and it is something we will continue to do.”
The Government’s +Capaz program for the 2014-2018 period aims to provide training to 300,000 women, 130,000 young people and 20,000 disabled people who are living in vulnerable conditions, making it Chile’s most ambitious employment training program to date.