(May 4, 2017) A total of $ 37,000,095 in credits to women entrepreneurs working in industries such as commerce, food, textiles, jewelery, leather goods and footwear. This is what emerged from the Fair in Ciudad Mujer of Usulután in El Salvador to present the main results of the Mujer Fund credits program, funded by the Italian Development Cooperation Agency. The event was chaired by the Secretary of Social Inclusion, Vanda Pignato, together with the United Nations Representative, Ana Elena Badilla, the President of the Development Bank of Salvador Bandesal, Mélida Mancia and the Director of the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation (Aics), Marco Falcone. "It is very important to note that with the Mujer Fund we have been able to benefit women who have always been excluded from the financial system because they live in high risk areas, or are without income and without warranty, or because they live in a situation of poverty", said Social Inclusion Secretary Vanda Pignato. "We are convinced that investing in the economic empowerment of women contributes directly not only to the attainment of gender equality, but also to inclusive economic growth and the fight against poverty. As Italian Cooperation we firmly believe that the progress of women means progress for all! Prioritizing women is not an option. It's a necessity!", says Aics director Falcone. In addition to the benefit of funding, women have a preferential rate and also receive support for developing a profile and business plan, training to strengthen leadership skills as well as financial and technical assistance for innovation and market integration. Interested parties have to approach the windows of Bandesal at the Ciudad Mujer headquarters in Morazán and Usulután, the two locations where the Mujer Fund is located. "UN Women bets on the economic empowerment of women as the essential pillar to improve their living conditions, the community they live in, and their families. Therefore, I invite women to continue to participate and strengthen their capacity to become agents of change to promote gender equality for current and future generations", said UN Women's Representative Ana Elena Badilla.

ABOUT / THE PROJECT

The Mujer Fund is a production credits program that has a guarantee fund whose goal is to support women entrepreneurs and owners of companies who want to expand and improve their businesses at a preferential interest rate. The target areas of the program are: the trade of various products, handcrafts and traditional production. In addition, the program has a guarantee fund that will benefit the entrepreneurs and holders of companies who have no support to apply for credit. Among the beneficiaries of the Mujer Fund, the case of Mónica Romero, originally from the municipality of Santiago de Maria and owner of Delicias de Papanán, she was granted the opportunity to initiate the health registration and export permit for coffee and Chocolate to the United States and soon to Canada. These first major achievements arrive after less than a year since the beginning of the Mujer Fund program, which was possible thanks to the joint work of the Social Inclusion Secretary (SIS), Bandesal and the United Nations Agency for Gender Equality and Women's empowerment (UN Women) and the valuable funding of the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation.