Fondo Energía de Mujer

EnDev has developed the FEM with the aim of raising the visibility of women's entrepreneurship and improving women's confidence in their productive capacities, generating additional income for them and their families. It also seeks to narrow the inequality gap between men and women in access to modern energy for productive uses, allowing independence or the possibility of rest for both women and men who are part of the enterprise.

Those eligible to be part of the FEM are enterprises led by women or with at least 40% of their active members being women and which are two or more years old. These can be micro and small enterprises (MSMEs), women's associations and cooperatives, Peasant Economic Organisations (OECAs) and Community Economic Organisations (OECOMs), organised women from indigenous, native and peasant peoples, or young women's enterprises.

The FEM provides support to these MSMEs through modern energy technologies, machinery or electrical equipment, solar energy or other renewable energy for productive use. In addition, capacity building in the use and maintenance of machinery for productive uses and technology in machine prototypes co-developed or adapted with the participation of the entrepreneurs is carried out.

To be part of the project, the women's enterprise must submit its application to the FEM within the dates established in the call for proposals. Once the application is received, a diagnosis of the enterprise is carried out and a participatory workshop is held to draw up the business plan. Subsequently, the enterprise presents the results of the workshop together with the demand documents to the FEM so that the FEM's Qualification Committee can approve the business plans.

The projects with the highest scores are selected and approved to receive support from the FEM, accessing an incentive for each partner for the co-financing of their business plans.

A podcast episode from the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), which explores climate-friendly development paths and the vital role of women.

Eugenia Sardán, a honey producer supported by the EnDev Bolivia Project, takes part in this episode and tells us about her role as a woman entrepreneur in her community.

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