On 9 August 2019, NITI Aayog’s Women Entrepreneurship Platform (WEP) in collaboration with the United Nations in India launched the fourth edition of the Women Transforming India (WTI) Awards, to recognize women entrepreneurs, who through business, enterprises, and initiatives, are providing innovative development solutions and are impacting communities. The contest aims to recognize women, who are flag bearers of the next wave of innovation and connect them with potential business opportunities, through NITI Aayog’s Women Entrepreneurship Platform (WEP), a unified access portal to help women realise their entrepreneurial aspirations.
Since its inception in 2018, WEP has seen several success stories emerging. WEP has more than 5,000 women entrepreneurs registered on the platform, more than 30 partners and has committed funding of more than US$ 10million for these start-ups.
Launched in 2016, Women Transforming India is an ongoing initiative of NITI Aayog and the UN in India, which in its first two editions (2016 and 2017) recognized exceptional women changemakers, breaking the glass ceiling and challenging stereotypes, to empower themselves or communities.
Launched in 2016, Women Transforming India is an ongoing initiative of NITI Aayog and the UN in India, which in its first two editions (2016 and 2017) recognized exceptional women changemakers, breaking the glass ceiling and challenging stereotypes, to empower themselves or communities.
India’s economy has grown steadily over the last decade, and there has been a parallel surge in the number of start-ups and new businesses in the country. A majority of these have been founded by men. While many Indian women have ambitions towards entrepreneurship, it is often more difficult for them to succeed. In fact, according to the data from the Sixth Economic Census, conducted between January 2013 and April 2014, out of 58.5 million businesses counted, only 8.05 million were owned by women, which corresponds to a rate of 13.76 percent of women among the total number of entrepreneurs in India.
A society in which women cannot realise their full potential loses out on the significant potential for innovation, economic growth, and job creation. Advancing women’s equality in India could boost its GDP by US$ 0.7 trillion (16 percent) in 2025 as compared to the ‘business as usual’ scenario. Moreover, entrepreneurship remains critical to harness the economic potential of women and achieve the sustainable development goals (SDGs) by 2030.
This year, #WTIAwards2019 on Women and Entrepreneurship aims to recognize and celebrate women entrepreneurs who are breaking the glass ceiling and challenging stereotypes, through businesses and enterprises and are providing innovative developmental solutions to building a dynamic New India.
Share your inspiring stories of courage and entrepreneurship. Apply for #WTIAwards2019 here.
Nominations can be filed on behalf of others or by the individual themselves.