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Consulado da Mulher Institute

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Consulado da Mulher Institute

Seamstresses, manicures, cookers, hairdressers. These are just some of the activities carried out by the women assisted by the Consulado da Mulher. They all have something in common: They are all very willing to undertake a business activity and they all need to generate a source of income faced with a job market that is unable to offer formal work opportunities for them all.

We chose women for a good reason.

As a result of their roles as mothers, educators and family pillars, we believe that benefits offered to mothers are always passed on to their children and family members, be it by means of income or the knowledge acquired during their activities, such as the organization of their home budget and work routines.

With this in mind, choosing women will increase our performance. This choice is not only ours. In the year 2000, the United Nations defined its list of the eight Millennium Development Gols in order to build a fairer society and highlighted the "Equality between Sexes and the Appreciation of Women" as one of their goals. The Consulado da Mulher Institute acts in two fronts:

Mulher Empreendedora Program - Offering support to groups of low income women, for them to structure their own business based on solidarity economy. The action of the Consulate happens in a direct manner, by means of its own teams at the units of Rio Claro (SP), Joinville (SC), Manaus (AM) and Sao Paulo (SP). In 2010, 109 businesses were supported, benefiting 521 persons.

Usinas do Trabalho Program - It uses the same methodology as the Mulher Empreendedora Program, but with one big difference: instead of benefitting women in person, it offers technical training and incentives to other institutions that also work with female entrepreneurship throughout Brazil. In 2010, the program has supported 65 institutions, with 823 persons generating income.

Methodology

The Consulado da Mulher Institute employs its own working methodology, which the instrument is the Management of Popular Businesses using Indicators.

Developed from the experience of advised women, along with universities and research institutions, Popular Businesses Management allows structuring and monitoring the enterprises, and may be replicated to several places and audiences. Its efficiency was reckoned by the Banco do Brasil Foundation, by UNESCO and by KPMG, in 2009.

The method relies on 31 indicators, grouped around the following issues: work organization, economic results, working conditions, self-management/solidarity economy, gender relationships, structure and emancipation, environmental accountability.

Both in the Entrepreneur Women and in the Working Mills Programs, the duration of the advisory offered by the Consulado da Mulher Institute is two years. During such period of time, the development indicators for each business are monitored six times per year. As such, it is possible to measure its stage of development, identify needs and opportunities, and develop action plans.