Regional and international networking

Regional and international networking

Some of our most important relationships are with our counterparts from the neighboring countries. ABW has been partnering with NGOs in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia, Montenegro and Albania for several years as part of the Swedish supported Ronja and Freja networks, and ABW has also maintained its membership in the KARAT network of women-based organizations active primarily in Eastern Europe and CIS countries. More recently, ABW joined the Serbian branch of the UN Global Compact, an international organization established by the UN for promoting human rights in business.

As preparing our members and their businesses for EU integration has become a primary focus of our research and training, as well as advocacy, activities, ABW seeks to participate in international conferences promoting women’s entrepreneurship and employment. In 2010 we started a significant partnership with jumpp-Frauenbetriebe, an organization devoted to women’s economic empowerment in Frankfurt, Germany, and 2011 saw the launch of www.xyglobal.net, a web portal which connects Serbian and German women entrepreneurs. The plan for the upcoming years is to expand the reach of the web portal to additional EU countries, as well as to other countries in the Balkan region.