Association for Women Entrepreneurship Development

Association for Women Entrepreneurship Development is a NGO, set up in 2001 that has the mission to promote and support entrepreneurial activity for women by applying gender equality.

ADAF is founding member of the  Coalition of Business Women Associations in Romania (CAFA), of  the  Coalition of Balkan Business Women Associtions and founding

member of the Pact for Employment and Social Inclusion in  Bucharest-Ilfov Region.

ADAF has started to develop its own network by opening 3 branches at the regional level in Slobozia, Pitesti and Oltenita.

ADAF is housing an Women Resource Center that was set up within the WefNET Project. It has signed partnership agreements with similar organisations from Varna-Bulgaria, France, Italy, Greece. ADAF  is national leader for promoting participants from Romania at the International Forum-Culturallia.

Starting 2015 within ADAF a Center for Entrepreneurial Development is running that has signed Cooperation Protocols with the Ilya Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Greece) and the Professional Training Center from Pyrgos-Greece.

The main objectives of ADAF are to:

• promote and develop entrepreneurial and associative  culture among the women and support women entrepreneurial activity by training, information and services;
• implement gender  equality on the labor market;
• encourage private initiative taken by women and develop their capacities of action and leadership;
• involve itself in advocacyand public debates for improving the  legislation in force and business climate;
• develop the behaviour of businesswomen based on social responsability;
• enhance the cross-border cooperation with similar public and private organizations from the country and abroad;
• participate in national and international projects.

The ADAF’s members are women owner or manager of small, medium and large companies in businesses covering a large area, such as: ready-made garments industry, import-export, distribution, trade, IT&C, transpotation, consultancy, education,  research, human resource management, audit etc. 

The ADAF’s initiatives to support women entrepreneurship development

• help-desk for Winner III (UNDP project on e-commerce for women);
• organizing, with the German Foundation Konrad Adenauer, on 27-28 Aprilie 2004 the seminar „The development of entrepreneurial and associative culture among women”;
• training on how to start up a business with girls in the town Slobozia;
• training women for business at the SMEs fair etc;
• participating annually in the FEMINA STAR, event devoted to promoting women entrepreneurship, organized by Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Ialomita county.
• launching the ADAF’s Excellency  Award, in the presence of the President of Romania, in 2004 and 2005 within the „Business Excellency Top” annual event.

 

International Cooperation of ADAF

In order to enhance the international cooperation, an ADAF’s delegation participated in October 2001 in the first Women Entrepreneurship Forum organized by European Economic Commission of United Nations- UN/ECE, in the premises of the United Nations Palace in Geneva. Thanks to the involvement of ADAF, a number of 25 Romanian women success stories have been posted on the „Virtual gallery of excellency business women” hosted by UN/ECE  web-site.

The international agenda of ADAF included participation of its members or representatives in the Women Trade Fair in Madrid (in November 2006), in the International Conference „Business powered by women” (June 2007, NoviSad- Serbia); the International Forum of Women Entrepreneurs (in Bari, September 2007),  in the  International Forum of Women Entrepreneurs in Bulgaria (26-30 September 2008 in Sofia and Plovdiv),  South-East Europe Women Entrepreneurs Forum  in Istanbul (September 2010 event organised by the Regional Cooperation Council of SEE), Global Summit of Women (in Athens - 2012,  Kuala-Lumpur -2013, Paris-2014), Peer review meeting good practices in the area of women’s entrepreneurship organised by the European Institute of Gender Equality in Athens, Vilnius and Riga (2014).

 

Board of Directors:

Cornelia Rotaru, Ph.D- President

Prof. Dr. Mariana Nicolae – Vice-president

Liana Antonina Ionita – Vice-President