Balkan Businesswomen Learn How to Advocate for Their Interests- Belgrade; October 7 , 2006
Belgrade; October 7, 2006 - Forty representatives of eight women business associations from Serbia, Romania, Bosnia Herzegovina and Croatia will be part of an advocacy seminar organized by Center for International Private Enterprise Romania (CIPE Romania) in Belgrade, between 12 and 13 October.
The participants will be guided through the advocacy process and the steps to be taken when a business association decides to advocate for a certain issue at local, national or regional level. The presentations will cover important topics such as how to build a coalition, how to develop a legislative agenda, how to run an advocacy campaign, types of public consultation procedures, case studies. The seminar brings in the expertise of Corina Dragomirescu, consultant for the Advocacy Academy in Timisoara, an organization established with the technical and financial support from CIPE to provide training and support (consultancy, monitoring and research programs) in advocacy for the business community.
The seminar is part of the technical assistance component of CIPE Romania's regional project funded by National Endowment for Democracy, entitled "Creating a Regional Coalition of Women Business Associations in the Balkans". The projects goal is to create a network of Balkan women business associations that can make their voice heard, assert their positions in a democratic manner and promote legislative issues of interest to their membership in order to improve both the status of women entrepreneurs and the overall business environment. The targeted countries for the project are: Albania, Bulgaria, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Croatia, Greece, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro, Romania, Serbia, Turkey and Hungary (as EU mentor partner).
"CIPE Romania decided to include two advocacy seminars as part of the technical assistance component of the regional project based on the evaluations done to assess the level of the institutional development and advocacy activity of the business associations included in the project. The results revealed that there still is a stringent need for training and support while advocacy practices are concerned. CIPE's experience in developing programs for business associations around the world shows that, next to institutional development, advocacy is the most important aspect that business organizations need to constantly focus on. The countries targeted by this project are either new entries or waiting for the green light to join the EU. By having the proper instruments to advocate, and knowing how and when to use them, women business associations will be stronger, more visible and much more capable to respond to their members' needs.", Camelia Bulat, CIPE Romania's Program Director, says.
The seminar will also include discussions on how the advocacy process can be put into practice by the Balkan Coalition. Each participating association will have the opportunity to share its advocacy practices, as a way to find out more on what has been done in the region and to learn from each others experiences.
For effectiveness purposes, CIPE Romania considered organizing two identical seminars, with the same agenda, but with different participants. The first one in Belgrade gathers participants from Serbia, Romania, Bosnia Herzegovina, and Croatia. The second one will be organized in Sofia by mid-December and will be attended by associations from Bulgaria, Turkey, Albania, Kosovo, Greece, Macedonia, Hungary and Romania.
On the second day of each workshop, there is going to be a strategic plannning session of the Balkan Coalition, in order to assign roles and responsibilities, and set objectives that are realistic and achievable.
Center for International Private Enterprise (CIPE) is an American organization founded by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in 1983 in the belief that economic freedom and political freedom are intertwined. Over the last 20 years, CIPE has supported more than 800 local initiatives in more than 95 developing countries to organize business associations and involve businesspeople in policy advocacy, institutional reform, and responsible governance.
Center for International Private Enterprise Romania (CIPE Romania) promotes democratic values and economic growth by providing support to business associations, employers' associations and chambers of commerce.
CIPE Romania started its activity in 2000 with a project funded by USAID with the aim to support business association development in the information technology, manufacturing, and tourism sectors. CIPE Romania also worked with multi-sector and women's associations, as they had members in each of the target sectors. Under this three-year program CIPE Romania was responsible for a number of activities including technical assistance for institutional development, support for public policy advocacy initiatives, information for targeted associations through forums, think tanks, and conferences, grants, creation of investment opportunities, and a volunteer experts program.
Between 2003 and 2004 with financial support from National Endowment for Democracy, CIPE Romania implemented a program dedicated to the creation and the development of the Coalition of Women Business Associations in Romania (CAFA) in order to assist business women in becoming an important player in the public-private dialogue.
At present, CIPE Romania is implementing a project aiming to create a network of women's business groups in the Balkan region that can actively promote a legislative agenda in order to improve both the status of women entrepreneurs and the overall business environment.
CIPE Romania is also working toward the set up of an Institute for Organization Management which will provide training for the leaders and executives of business associations and chambers of commerce.
For more information on CIPE activities, please visit the website:
www.ciperomania.org
The participants will be guided through the advocacy process and the steps to be taken when a business association decides to advocate for a certain issue at local, national or regional level. The presentations will cover important topics such as how to build a coalition, how to develop a legislative agenda, how to run an advocacy campaign, types of public consultation procedures, case studies. The seminar brings in the expertise of Corina Dragomirescu, consultant for the Advocacy Academy in Timisoara, an organization established with the technical and financial support from CIPE to provide training and support (consultancy, monitoring and research programs) in advocacy for the business community.
The seminar is part of the technical assistance component of CIPE Romania's regional project funded by National Endowment for Democracy, entitled "Creating a Regional Coalition of Women Business Associations in the Balkans". The projects goal is to create a network of Balkan women business associations that can make their voice heard, assert their positions in a democratic manner and promote legislative issues of interest to their membership in order to improve both the status of women entrepreneurs and the overall business environment. The targeted countries for the project are: Albania, Bulgaria, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Croatia, Greece, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro, Romania, Serbia, Turkey and Hungary (as EU mentor partner).
"CIPE Romania decided to include two advocacy seminars as part of the technical assistance component of the regional project based on the evaluations done to assess the level of the institutional development and advocacy activity of the business associations included in the project. The results revealed that there still is a stringent need for training and support while advocacy practices are concerned. CIPE's experience in developing programs for business associations around the world shows that, next to institutional development, advocacy is the most important aspect that business organizations need to constantly focus on. The countries targeted by this project are either new entries or waiting for the green light to join the EU. By having the proper instruments to advocate, and knowing how and when to use them, women business associations will be stronger, more visible and much more capable to respond to their members' needs.", Camelia Bulat, CIPE Romania's Program Director, says.
The seminar will also include discussions on how the advocacy process can be put into practice by the Balkan Coalition. Each participating association will have the opportunity to share its advocacy practices, as a way to find out more on what has been done in the region and to learn from each others experiences.
For effectiveness purposes, CIPE Romania considered organizing two identical seminars, with the same agenda, but with different participants. The first one in Belgrade gathers participants from Serbia, Romania, Bosnia Herzegovina, and Croatia. The second one will be organized in Sofia by mid-December and will be attended by associations from Bulgaria, Turkey, Albania, Kosovo, Greece, Macedonia, Hungary and Romania.
On the second day of each workshop, there is going to be a strategic plannning session of the Balkan Coalition, in order to assign roles and responsibilities, and set objectives that are realistic and achievable.
Center for International Private Enterprise (CIPE) is an American organization founded by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in 1983 in the belief that economic freedom and political freedom are intertwined. Over the last 20 years, CIPE has supported more than 800 local initiatives in more than 95 developing countries to organize business associations and involve businesspeople in policy advocacy, institutional reform, and responsible governance.
Center for International Private Enterprise Romania (CIPE Romania) promotes democratic values and economic growth by providing support to business associations, employers' associations and chambers of commerce.
CIPE Romania started its activity in 2000 with a project funded by USAID with the aim to support business association development in the information technology, manufacturing, and tourism sectors. CIPE Romania also worked with multi-sector and women's associations, as they had members in each of the target sectors. Under this three-year program CIPE Romania was responsible for a number of activities including technical assistance for institutional development, support for public policy advocacy initiatives, information for targeted associations through forums, think tanks, and conferences, grants, creation of investment opportunities, and a volunteer experts program.
Between 2003 and 2004 with financial support from National Endowment for Democracy, CIPE Romania implemented a program dedicated to the creation and the development of the Coalition of Women Business Associations in Romania (CAFA) in order to assist business women in becoming an important player in the public-private dialogue.
At present, CIPE Romania is implementing a project aiming to create a network of women's business groups in the Balkan region that can actively promote a legislative agenda in order to improve both the status of women entrepreneurs and the overall business environment.
CIPE Romania is also working toward the set up of an Institute for Organization Management which will provide training for the leaders and executives of business associations and chambers of commerce.
For more information on CIPE activities, please visit the website:
www.ciperomania.org
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