BUSINESS TRAINING CENTRE FOR WOMEN
Centre for education, information and employment

MISSION

Bringing unemployed women on an effective way to the labor market, without excluding anyone (higher, lower and low educated women, urban and rural women, women from different ethnical backgrounds)

GENERAL GOAL

80% economic empowerment of women who are unemployed and who has lost their jobs as a consequence of the transitional process

SPECIFIC GOALS

•  Stimulation of the self-confidence and realization of own capabilities;
•  Support for unemployed women to develop their skills and to fulfill their knowledge (learning of foreign languages, computer programs, business plan etc.) oriented on the vacancies;
•  Fulfillment of existing vacancies according to the demands of the labor market by training unemployed women on an effective way;
•  Bringing unemployed women to find jobs in which they can stand for themselves;
•  Mediation at the women's employment, who are going to visit the Business Training Centre for Women;
•  Verifying women's working capabilities oriented on the vacancies on the labor market;
•  Employment of young women for decreasing the number of young and unqualified personnel and prevention from trafficking;
•  Initiative motivation for self-employment among the women by creation of small and medium enterprises;
•  Development of a network of successful business women and women managers as mentor for women who want to start own businesses.

ACTIVITIES

UWOM is a network of 70 independent women's organizations that has formed 7 regional centers with permanent functioning of 3 regional offices and 5 thematically committees. Seminars have an educative character and with the purpose to encompass the following themes:

•  Realization of own interests, needs and possibilities for employment;
•  Raising awareness for own capabilities and gaining self-confidence for the self-employment initiative;
•  Information about the activities of the Business Training Centre for Women.

In the frame of the UWOM, is functioning a network of successful women and women managers, who are going to be mentors of the women that want to start own businesses. The network' goal is to give support to the women that want to open own businesses by creation of the confident relation between the new business women and the women mentors with successful careers. Mentors are supporting the careers and the business development of other women based on the personal advisements though the network. This is a process of learning through the experience, counseling, help and support. This kind of cooperation is for empowerment of the women's self-confidence. They are gaining knowledge and skills for achievement of the new business ideas that are going to be developed and realized in the practice.

Goals of the business network of women are:

•  Exchanging experience of the business women on local, national and international level;
•  Development of the business cooperation among the women and enlargement of the number of women's business cooperators;
•  Promotion of the business activities taken by the business women.

Advantages of the business network of women are:

•  Businesses of the women, who are participating n the network, become well known and therefore it does not need to be advertised;
•  Searching for clients through the network;
•  Many possibilities for business development of mutual cooperation and better access to the business information;
•  Greater following of economic trends for creation of new enterprising possibilities.

Functioning of the Business Training Centre for Women is made through:

•  Realization of training courses for educational fulfillment of women for new skills and technologies (languages, computer programs, business, economy);
•  Counseling and support of women who want to start own businesses;
•  Mediation at employment of the educated women and guarantee for their labor quality, business like and protection of women on their working positions;
•  Preparation for establishing and functioning of the JOB CENTRE, as a part of the sustainable development of the Business Training Centre for Women, which activities are going to be job looking and job offers;
•  Kindergarten;
•  Public information and promotion about the Business Training Centre for Women through the media.

Women, who are coming in the Business Training Centre for Women, have certain education and knowledge, but they need more training and skills in order to be involved in the flows in the labor market and the business life.

Educators are going to lead courses for:

•  Basic and advanced knowledge of computer skills;
•  Basic and advanced courses for commercial English;
•  Business plan;
•  Marketing and management;
•  Finances.

Business Training Centre for Women is center that could offer counseling and support for women, who have a business idea and want to start and realize own business. Interested candidates could get the following business information:

a)  Business information:

•  Finding possibilities to start own business;
•  Defining the concept for starting and realization of the business plan;
•  Counseling in the period of planning and realization of the business idea;

b)  Market advises:

•  Market analyzes;
•  Promotion of the business activities;
•  Processes for commercialization and marketing;

c)  Financial counseling:

•  Start of the business activities-opportunities for financing;
•  Accounting and bookkeeping;
•  Policy of prices;

d)  Legal advises:

•  Legal forms of business activities;
•  Fiscal obligation;
•  Labor laws;
•  Support for business premises;

e)  Psychological support and counseling:

Many women, who are at the beginning of the creation of new business activities, are not enough self-confident about their capabilities and are afraid of the consequences of the possible market failure of their business ideas.

•  Individual counseling about the market problems and their solving;
•  Group counseling-motivation and strengthening of the self-confidence through interaction and communicational exercises;
•  Techniques for the stress relief and focusing on the positive energy on the business realization.

It is going to be formed a labor exchange for women through the looking and offering of vacancies. Women are going to cooperate with the Business Training Centre for Women. The centre is going to organize mediation for the vacancies' seeking offered in it. The centre also is going to organize meetings with the managers of the working organizations and the owners of the small and medium enterprises for the vacancies offering and information about the centre.

Establishing of the mediation service at employment:

•  Analyze of the personal and professional profiles;
•  Skills education for successful job finding (preparation of short curriculum vitae and interview);
•  Improving, encouraging and development of communication and working capabilities of women;
•  Information about employment possibilities;
•  Providing contact with the interested enterprises;
•  Protection of the labor rights of women, who are employed with the mediation of the Business Training Centre for Women (guarantee of the personal income, health and pension insurance, protection from abuses and job loses without any reason);
•  Creation of labor exchange on the labor market.

Intention of the Business Training Centre for Women is to use new technologies for establishing electronic database for labor exchange on the labor market on the Internet. The database is going to contain relevant data about the activities of the Business Training Centre for Women.

Web site is going to include information about:

•  Service for the employment mediation;
•  CVs for the women who are going to work;
•  Parts of the training materials;
•  Women's enterprises that are cooperating with the Business Training Centre for Women;
•  Useful addresses and contact telephones.

TARGET GROUP

Unemployed women and girls, who have finished the education and cannot, find jobs as a consequence of the transitional period and new economical and social changes.