Women Entrepreneurs Prevent Dangerous Migration

HERA is working in a different, potentially more dangerous world in Central and Eastern Europe than when we last reported.  With the end of USAID assistance, HERA Board members from the region advised us to launch the 2025 Grants Competition a month early. The women entrepreneurs need our support now to provide essential products and services in Armenia, Georgia, Moldova, and Ukraine.  After sending out the 2025 Announcement in early March (see Link 1 below), Board members from the four countries reached out immediately to their networks across each country. We have already received more early applications than ever at this point in the Grants Competition.

HERA France Association and USA never depend on any Government assistance.  Our support for women-led businesses comes from individuals (our readers), private foundations, and companies. We work with GlobalGiving.  However, we were very sorry to lose valuable partnerships with USAID, and its network of NGOs, contractors, and consultants. As other governments and aid organisations in the region, USAID and its affiliates often referred women’s micro/small enterprises to HERA.  We are proud, too, that HERA grantees have been recognized by USAID and other national governments.

As a volunteer organisation, we were not directly affected by the funding cuts.  However, at HERA’s first monthly online Board meeting in 2025, every member -- from SF to Tbilisi and Abidjan to Hamburg – spoke of how the loss of US foreign assistance has affected their own lives and communities.  Entrepreneurs, coordinators, and Board members from Georgia and Ukraine are particularly vulnerable.  Georgia is experiencing political turmoil and mass protests. In Ukraine, the war has intensified.  Ventures there suffer from rolling black outs and power cuts.   

Yet, the women entrepreneurs continue working.  As one Ukrainian grantee writes:  

Due to constant Russian missile attacks, electricity in the Kyiv region can be cut off for 6-8 hours daily. Under such conditions, the uninterrupted operation of our equipment – 3D printers, scanners, and laptops – would have been impossible. Without this solution, we would have been forced to send employees on unpaid leave. However, the charging station, installed in our office allows us to fulfill client orders on time and with high quality.

A community cafe in Bucha remains open. Preschools and primary health care centers continue. HERA funded a generator for a Kyiv preschool’s bomb shelter. The generator ensures that the children can shelter in a lit room when the air raid sirens go off. This year HERA is likely to fund more generators to keep businesses, schools, cafes, ateliers, health programs, and food production going.  

In Armenia, we will again support ventures of women uprooted from Artsakh (Nagorno Karabakh) and in Moldova, which is a safer haven, some Ukrainian entrepreneurs again.  Both countries have increased cross border migration. HERA will continue to support women to restart their ventures as frontlines move and they relocate to safer places. 

HERA France Association and USA invite you to our online Annual General Meeting (AGM) forum on Saturday, 29 March from 17:00 – 18:00 CET (noon ET), where we will address our plans ahead (see invitation link below). We welcome your ideas and questions and hope to see you online!

Links:

• HERA Competition Announcement
• Link to Forum on Saturday March 29