The European Union launches the first regional hub to support social entrepreneurship in Sîngerei
On 20 July a regional hub for supporting social entrepreneurship was inaugurated in Sîngerei with European Union assistance. Within the Hub, social enterprises will get support through training, consultancy and qualified expertise, which will guide social entrepreneurs in the process of starting and expanding social businesses, which will benefit as many people as possible in their community. In the immediate future, the hub will provide support for 20 young people to develop their social entrepreneurship ideas, and another 10 businesses will be supported to orientate their existing businesses in areas of community interest.
Social entrepreneurship represents a continuous activity of manufacturing production, executing works or providing services to solve social problems, therefore, supporting social businesses will generate new jobs, including for people from various vulnerable groups. At the same time, the employment of disadvantaged people – young people, people with special needs, immigrants, Roma, the elderly – will contribute to improving their living conditions and will offer them professional opportunities. Thus, the development and expansion of social businesses will increase social inclusion, create jobs, involve people from disadvantaged groups in economic activities and facilitate their access to social resources and services available in their local community.
The regional social entrepreneurship support hub in Singerei was created within the Business Incubator of Singerei and is equipped with all the tools and equipment needed by a business at the start of its journey or to expand. The hub was inaugurated as part of the project “We capitalize on the potential of civil society for the promotion and development of social entrepreneurship in the Republic of Moldova”, financed by the European Union, co-financed by Sweden and implemented by the East European Foundation in partnership with Keystone Moldova and the Contact Center. The hub was opened by means of a grant, worth 45,000 EUR, obtained through an open competition by the CONSENS Socio-Economic Policy Center from Sîngerei and the Sîngerei District Council.
The European Union and Sweden will provide grants totalling 140,000 EUR for the development of four similar regional hubs, which will be launched by 2024 and will apply the same operating mechanism. The hubs will be opened with the support of four organisations from the north, centre and south of the Republic of Moldova, as well as in the Transnistrian region.
Regional Business Support Centers for Social Enterprises and hubs created with the support of the European Union will offer support through offline and online mentoring sessions, exchange of experience, facilitating connections with other organisations, access to e-learning platforms, applicable smart solutions in business, digital solutions and e-commerce. Finally, 15 social enterprises are expected to be launched, which will provide new jobs for disadvantaged people. The products manufactured and delivered by them will be sold both online and in the local market.