Applications are now open for the WIPO Training, Mentoring, and Matchmaking Program on Intellectual Property for Women Entrepreneurs from Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities.
Women entrepreneurs from indigenous peoples or local communities, such as artisans, designers, performing artists, researchers, healers, or small-scale farmers, who have a project or business based on traditional knowledge or traditional cultural expressions with an intellectual property component, are encouraged to apply.
WIPO Training, Mentoring and Matchmaking Program on Intellectual Property for Women Entrepreneurs from Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities has a practical approach and consists of a training phase and a mentoring and matchmaking phase.
Entrepreneurship based on traditional knowledge and traditional cultural expressions celebrates the rich and diverse cultures and traditions of indigenous peoples and local communities around the world, strengthening their sense of identity and belonging, as well as creating jobs and generating income.
However, indigenous and local community entrepreneurs often face difficulties due to a lack of awareness of, and expertise on, intellectual property.
Indigenous and local community women, many of whom play a key role as holders and custodians of traditional knowledge and traditional cultural expressions, represent a significant number of these entrepreneurs, often facing additional difficulties due to inequalities in access to education, funding, and support services.
The program aims to strengthen the capacity of indigenous and local community women entrepreneurs to make strategic and effective use of intellectual property tools in support of their businesses.
It is hoped that the program will encourage women’s entrepreneurship, innovation, and creativity related to traditional knowledge and traditional cultural expressions, and lead to sustainable prosperity for women and their communities, thus supporting the implementation of many of the Sustainable Development Goals.
The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) is the global forum for intellectual property (IP) services, policy, information, and cooperation. WIPO is a self-funding agency of the United Nations, with 193 member states.
WIPO’s mission is to lead the development of a balanced and effective international IP system that enables innovation and creativity for the benefit of all. WIPO’s mandate, governing bodies, and procedures are set out in the WIPO Convention, which established WIPO in 1967.
Benefits
- The costs of travel will be covered by WIPO.
- The costs of accommodation will be covered by WIPO.
- The costs of subsistence associated with the participant’s attendance at the practical workshop will be covered by WIPO.
Eligibilities
- Must be women entrepreneurs from indigenous peoples or local communities, such as artisans, designers, performing artists, researchers, healers, or small-scale farmers, who have a project or business based on traditional knowledge or traditional cultural expressions with an intellectual property component from Africa, The Arctic, Asia, Central and South America and the Caribbean, Eastern Europe, The Russian Federation, Central Asia and Transcaucasia, North America, or The Pacific.
Application Process
- Application has to be made through the official online application form available at the apply link.
Application Deadline: April 21, 2023
Application ClosedOfficial link
