Palestinian Business Women Forum: A Good Idea Actualized

Watching from the audience, among 240 leading Arab and American entrepreneurs at the 2005 MEPI Businesswomen’s Summit in Tunis, Tunisia, Amal Ali Masri had a good idea: Why not start a network of like-minded businesswomen back home in the Palestinian Territories?

Two years later, the treasurer and co-founder of the Business Women Forum (BWF), a hub of the seven-member Middle East and North Africa (MENA) Businesswomen’s Network, has seen the Forum surpass even her own expectations.

“We’ve attracted a large audience in the West Bank,” said Al Masri, general manager of an advertising, marketing, and public relations company.  “We’re helping participants network with one another, while providing them with an opportunity to transfer invaluable information, as well as offering reassurances and support for women starting their own businesses.”

Upon returning from the Tunis Summit, Al Masri and others set to work drafting a charter and bylaws for the BWF and registering it as a civil society organization.  While the initial start-up phase proved difficult, due to time constraints of the members and the unstable situation in the region, these challenges were overcome and the BWF became established as a hub of the MENA Businesswomen’s Network.

Launched in October 2006, the Network now includes organizations in Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Morocco, and the United Arab Emirates, as well as the Palestinian Territories.  To date, more than 3,000 businesswomen, businessmen, and aspiring entrepreneurs have participated in the Network events.  In the next two years the Network will expand to an additional five countries. The Network itself is a partnership between local businesswomen’s organizations, MEPI, the Beyster Institute, and Vital Voices.

Organizations joining the Network have access to program grants and technical assistance, including capacity building tools, discussion groups, and a Speaker’s Bureau.  The Network also provides a forum for peer learning, information exchange, business development, and access to resources – all designed to support the expansion of economic opportunities and the building of ever expanding networks for businesswomen in the region.

Al Masri noted that despite cultural differences among the various hubs, each of them are trying to achieve similar results.  “The process of communication with the other Network Hubs helps us gear our future events towards wider public interest, which increases the overall impact of each of our organizations,” she said.

For its part, the BWF has hosted eight program events, ranging from such topics as leadership management and strategic planning to accessing credit and choosing future careers.  Through these and other activities, the Forum aims to strengthen the role of women in the private sector by increasing business skills and an awareness of financial opportunities.

The BWF is now in the process of expanding activities into Hebron and looking at how best to grow as an independent organization.  Al Masri said she hopes to soon open a center that will offer training and consulting to further increase women’s influence on the private sector.