WIPO Mentoring Program for Women Entrepreneurs from Indigenous Communities

By Alina Cartan

Photo by Catalin Apostol on Unsplash

Twenty-four Indigenous women entrepreneurs including artisans, designers, performing artists, researchers, and small-scale farmers have been selected out of a pool of hundreds to participate in the WIPO Project-Based Training and Mentoring Program. The selected participants come from various countries, including Australia, Belize, Brazil, Cameroon, Canada, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Egypt, Fiji, France, and Iran.
 
The Program is divided in two phases: the training phase and the mentoring phase. According to the WIPO Director General, the “innovative Program brings together WIPO’s commitment to intellectual property, economic opportunities, sustainable development and gender equality”. 
 
During the training phase, participants attended a workshop in Geneva, Switzerland where they learned strategic and effective use of IP rights, business models, market access strategies and marketing of cultural heritage. The training phase was specifically created to support the implementation of their businesses and projects. The second half of the Program, the mentoring phase, will continue throughout 2020. During this phase, the participants will implement IP components of their selected projects in their home countries with the help of an assigned mentor.
 
You can watch a video highlighting the training phase of the Program here.
For more information about the Program, click here. 

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