This past week the awarding of the winning teams for the “Igualdaton” competition was held, an initiative that called on women from different Tico sectors and profiles to participate in a collaborative process that seeks innovative solutions to problems generated by the COVID-19 crisis, particularly affecting women, limiting their economic empowerment.
In total, 48 “Ticas” participated in 11 teams, with 34 people mentors and building proposals for
solutions to four challenges that were evaluated by 16 members of the jury.
The winners were the following:
Challenge # 1: Reduce unpaid domestic and care work for women, the selected proposal is: Yo me apunto, a free application for the whole family, which equitably plans and organizes household chores, in a creative, fun and educational way. This proposal will receive 30 hours of technical support for requirements gathering and other tasks to strengthen the prototype for the Avantica company, while HP will grant them $ 500 that it can invest to strengthen the draft.
Challenge # 2: Propose new linkage modalities for the production, marketing or distribution of products and services in urban and rural areas, was won by Common kitchens, an infrastructure and collaborative team for the economic reactivation of gastronomic ventures and idle production areas that they have not been able to rejoin their usual business mode. This project will receive $ 2,000 from Sykes to invest in specialized advice to strengthen the prototype.
Challenge # 3: Design affirmative actions that empower women-owned companies, was won by Mulier, an agile and comprehensive platform that allows connecting companies led by women who want to be suppliers, with potential buyers from national and international companies, promoting a space-efficient interaction between supply and demand. Mulier will receive 20 hours of technical support from HPE for requirements gathering and other tasks to strengthen the prototype. They receive $ 1,000 from HP to invest in specialized advice for the project.
Challenge #4: Expand access and efficient administration of financial resources in companies owned by women, the Yo avanzo proposal was chosen, a platform for the accompaniment, mentoring, and visibility of women entrepreneurs on their way to formalization, to expand their opportunities to access financing in the form of investment or bank credit. They will receive from HPE 40 hours of technical support for requirements gathering and other tasks to strengthen the prototype and from HP they will receive $ 500 to invest in specialized consulting.
All the winning proposals will also receive accompaniment for 8 more weeks by the Win-Win Program, AED and a basket of Pozuelo products.
The Equaldaton is an initiative of the “Win-Win Program: Gender equality is good business” Program, a joint program of UN Women and the International Labor Organization (ILO), financed by the Association Instrument of the European Union, developed in the framework of a cooperation agreement with the Business Alliance for Development (AED). It has the support of the Presidency of the Republic, the National Institute of Women (INAMU), the Ministry of Economy, Industry and Commerce (MEIC) and the MAGIT of the National University.
The Igualdaton was developed 100% virtually and included methodological workshops and virtual follow-up sessions. The solutions will form a seedbed of ideas that can be used by organizations, institutions and companies according to their implementation potential.
