In Guatemala, 49% of the population lives in poverty, 70% of the population has informal employment, and 54% of women lack the means to generate their own income, with greater difficulty for the indigenous population in rural areas.
Limited formal employment opportunities make female entrepreneurship the main alternative for generating income for those who cannot find opportunities in the labor market and do not risk illegal migration. In the current post-COVID context, many businesses have seen their chances of survival diminish and face closures and capital losses, increasing their precariousness.
Our partner FUNDAP, on the front lines in the most remote communities of the Highlands and close to the most disadvantaged people, designed a program four years ago to support women entrepreneurs in the Highlands. The IMPULSA TU SUEÑO program has been specifically designed to meet the needs and competencies of women in the Highlands so that they acquire basic management and savings knowledge, thus transforming their subsistence activity into a micro-enterprise that allows them to live with dignity.
Identified within FUNDAP’s community microcredit program, the IMPULSA program aims to impart basic business management concepts to these women living in great precariousness, supporting them in making the first changes in attitude and mindset, both personally (improving self-esteem) and through the regular use of management tools (cash journal and monthly management chart) and the development of an entrepreneurial culture.
More than 3,000 women have already changed their lives thanks to the program. Among them is Nancy, who tells us how she managed to fuel her dreams and become who she is today: a woman entrepreneur, proud of her professional activity and all the steps she has taken to achieve it!
