Women’s entrepreneurship will be one of the key topics of the second Eurasian Women’s Forum

The Forum will take place in St. Petersburg in September 2018, and will bring together parliamentarians, representatives of executive authorities, business and scientific community, NGOs from various regions such as the CIS, the EU, the SCO, the BRICS, as well as the countries of the Asia-Pacific Region.

Deputy Speaker of the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation Galina Karelova took part in a meeting with representatives of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) in Vienna dedicated to the discussion of key areas of the cooperation to support women’s entrepreneurship, as well as of plans for joint preparation to host the second Eurasian Women's Forum.

Galina Karelova noted that the first Eurasian Women’s Forum, held in 2015 in St. Petersburg, could be considered the impetus for rapid development of the women’s agenda. The forum sparked a wide response and became a serious impetus, in particular, to the support of women’s entrepreneurship.

According to the Deputy Speaker, the concept of the Forum implies developing a new vision of the role and capabilities of women, with a focus on such key aspects of sustainable development as security, politics, economics, development of human capital, healthcare, ecology, and digital technologies. At the same time, one of the most important themes to be discussed will be women's activity in business.

Strengthening the role of women in the economy is becoming one of the central themes of today's international agenda. For instance, the G20 summit, held in Hamburg this year, announced the establishment of the Women’s Business Development Fund and the launch by the World Bank of a large international program to support women entrepreneurs. In this regard, the second Eurasian Women’s Forum will specifically focus on the discussion of international programs and world's best practices in this field. Galina Karelova noted that the discussion will take place in the format of a public-private dialogue, and invited all the participants of the meeting in Vienna to take part in the event.

Recognizing the important role of UNIDO in women's economic empowerment, Galina Karelova suggested including the report on UNIDO's activities to the program of the Second EAWF, with a possibility to set up a dedicated expert panel involving relevant experts and business associations. She also added that the Forum's Organizing Committee was currently being formed.