Interview with Valentina Disoska, president of NPZHP: There are many possibilities, but the most important thing is to start!

Photo: Private archive

The National Platform for Women's Entrepreneurship is credited with establishing Councils for Women's Entrepreneurship, which represents a major step in the inclusion of women in institutional work and decision-making processes. With this, the capacities of women are also being built to further enter the councils of the municipalities and advocate for their needs.

The president of the National Platform for Women's Entrepreneurship Valentina Disoska together with their team, they actively act in the creation of public policy proposals, more precisely in the creation of a whole movement for the development of women's entrepreneurship. She says that she is happy with the daily small battles won, every step taken towards achieving the goal - from sharing information to lobbying to make a small change in society, with reference to the need for economic empowerment of women by creating a favorable environment for strengthening female entrepreneurship. What do you consider the biggest victory so far?

Photo: Private archive

"The fact that we managed in our country to make the topic of female entrepreneurship recognizable and to convince all stakeholders that it is worth working on this topic, from the National Strategy that was adopted in 2019, then transferring it to the local level, all the way to the established councils that so far we have ten of them in different municipalities and the newly announced ones that we expect to be formed in the near future, all this is a victory for me", says Disoska and adds: "The creation of a movement where they actively work to make changes and improve the conditions for the development of female entrepreneurship, many institutions, non-governmental, private sector, and the changes that are already visible, for me it represents the biggest victory so far."

What do the hubs across Macedonia represent, and what do the councils in the cities that you form and how do they act? What are the specific results that you would single out as significant and realized by the councils so far?

- Hubs are our representatives in the eight planning regions, they are led by people who are elected to represent us and represent us in the planning regions, thus they spread our ideology, our goal that we want to achieve. Our success in the planning regions also depends on the quality of our representatives, and therefore I can proudly say that we have a successful team, with which we successfully implement the set goals. With the mere establishment of councils in the municipalities, one step has already been achieved, now we are working on creating strategies for the development of women's entrepreneurship in each region separately, and the municipalities and councils, on the other hand, create action plans and allocate funds and create activities according to their needs. So, for example, we have municipalities where serious funds have been set aside to support women in the creation of businesses, in education, mentoring, business-connection, and even the allocation of funds. The active councils working in the municipalities and the large number of women and girls interested in using these benefits are the most significant results, and we hope for even greater results and the creation of positive examples of successful entrepreneurs.

How can regional women who want to start their own business be informed about the opportunities and business needs, and how can they become part of the Platform's activities?

- The platform is composed of organizations and institutions that, each separately, work to improve the conditions for female entrepreneurship. Any membership-based organization such as the Business Women's Association offers membership opportunities. We share information about the opportunities that exist on the website of the Platform, as well as on the social networks of the Association of Business Women and the Platform. Through the newly opened councils, information will be shared at the local level, where newsletters about female entrepreneurship at the local level are already being created. Also, interested women can personally address the members of the councils as well as the local coordinators representing the hubs and get information through them. We are creating many opportunities and I hope that those interested will take advantage of them.

What is the cooperation with the mayors like? What is the mood for the inclusion of more women in municipalities and local city councils?

- The cooperation with the mayors is going well for now, they recognize our idea and join the movement, of course with different dynamics in accordance with their priorities. But I am very satisfied that so far we have not encountered a closed door, that everyone we have talked to so far has recognized the opportunity in what we are doing and joined the movement. The establishment of Women's Entrepreneurship Councils is indeed a big step in the inclusion of women in institutional work and in decision-making processes. We believe that with this we are also building the capacities of women to further enter the councils of the municipalities and advocate for their needs, so this represents a process of capacity building at multiple levels.

What are the current obstacles you are facing, what is your energy focused on at the moment?

- We don't have any serious obstacles in what we are doing now, when we see that there is no listening from the other side, we just move on in the hope that one day the other side will realize that there is a real need for the development of a topic such as female entrepreneurship and will join movement, because you know that good practice and a touching voice are the best motivation, so we aim that in the near future we will have Councils for women's entrepreneurship in all municipalities that will develop as a result of positive practices from other municipalities.

What advice would you give to a woman if she came to you with the desire to start her own business, but also with the honest admission that she does not know where to start and that she fears whether she will be successful? 

- Personally, I am a fan of creating knowledge through practice, through shared knowledge and information. There are few professions where without experience you can acquire enough knowledge to open your own business, that's why I recommend acquiring knowledge through work, and now we are already in a situation where workers are required in every branch. Of course, there are also courses, VET educations, mentorships. As an association, we also give advice and develop business plans, mentoring. There are many possibilities, but the most important thing is to start, every day passed is a lost day if we have not started towards the goal!

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