CAWEE Background
The Center for African Women Economic Empowerment (CAWEE) was established in 2004, registered under the Ministry of Justice, as a non-profit, non- governmental organization. Starting 2014, CAWEE changing its name to Center for Accelerated Women's Economic Empowerment (CAWEE) was registered as a membership organization, licensed under the Ethiopian Ministry of Trade.
Mission
Promote Ethiopian women
entrepreneurs, with a special focus to women exporters, both existing and
potential/emerging exporters.
Build the capacity of women entrepreneurs through training, advisory services/business counselling, product development, mentoring, information sharing, etc.
Facilitate market linkages for women entrepreneurs by creating cooperation and collaboration with international institutions
Undertake practical researches to address the challenges faced by women entrepreneurs
Build the capacity of women entrepreneurs through training, advisory services/business counselling, product development, mentoring, information sharing, etc.
Facilitate market linkages for women entrepreneurs by creating cooperation and collaboration with international institutions
Undertake practical researches to address the challenges faced by women entrepreneurs
Vision
The vision of CAWEE is to create globally competitive core women entrepreneurs class in Ethiopia.
The membership of CAWEE targets the following five sectors
1
Agribusiness ( coffee and honey),
2
Textiles/Garment/Hand-weaving/Hand-made Shoe,
3
Leather (with a focus to fashion accessories and give away items),
4
Gemstones and Jewelry
5
Services (Tourism, Export Management, Training, IT Services…).
The Center's other focus activity targets working on value-chains through the provision of technical skills/marketable skills to grassroots women (the poorest of the poor) and connect them to markets through women owned and managed Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), existing and emerging/potential exporting companies, where in this respect the Center works on value-chains of different sectors with the ultimate purpose of empowering the supply capacity of the exporting SME companies.
Hand spinning
Hand weaving
Embroidery/ crochet/ knitting
Fabric Dyeing
Roasted/ Green Coffee
Ethiopian honey
Leather
Gemstone
Home furnishing/ Basketry/ Carpet... etc
Parallel to the provision of marketable technical skills, CAWEE works in connecting those trained women and young girls to high end markets, both domestic and export markets through existing and potential/ emerging women exporters and other marketing channels, i.e. from grassroots to high end stores.
In working on those value-chains, working on the business model of connecting the trained grassroots' women to women in export operating SMEs, where one sector is feeding/supplying the other, CAWEE has proved such business model is working and is ready for replication to bring out multiplier effects.
CAWEE BOARD MEMBERS
Following
CAWEE’s membership in the five focus sectors, the Center’s Board is structured
in representing members in the respective sectors.
Thus, the five CAWEE Board members represent in the Board their respective sectors.
Thus, the five CAWEE Board members represent in the Board their respective sectors.