Project: Strengthening economic leadership for the women of Curundu
State of development: Current
Stage of development: Late stage
Type of instrument — Impact Bond: No; Outcomes Fund: No; Social Impact Incentives (SIINC): Yes; Social Impact Guarantee: Yes; Payment-by-results (no pre-financing): No; Technical Assistance and Market-building program: No; Other: 
Rationale for using outcome-based finance: The "Strengthening the economic leadership of women in CurundÃº" program is designed to empower women in this community and promote their participation in the local economy.

Some program innovations: Business support networks among the beneficiaries, access to alternative financing, one-on-one mentoring where successful women entrepreneurs provide individualized guidance and support to participants, and access to financial resources that might otherwise be difficult to obtain.

One of the possible avenues for scaling up is to replicate the project in other similar communities, which will allow us to increase the scope and impact on other women, collaborate with other organizations or financial institutions to further strengthen financial and technical support, establish a program of continuing education and professional development trainings for women who complete the initial project.

Profitability in this context is not measured exclusively in financial terms, but in the positive impact generated in the community.
Key challenges to launch: Having a Community Leadership School demands that teamwork and leadership become a reality. This requires a concrete community project that puts into practice the skills learned. The beneficiaries are currently designing projects that will be part of a community proposal. 

This is why it is necessary to economically empower the women with the necessary funds to promote a community project that will function as a place for the women to start their individual businesses. For this it is important to have an initial fund. 

The Accelerator will allow the proposals to consolidate and this means a lot for women who are not used to training processes that end in nothing. This would be a different initiative that also strengthens women's self-esteem. This is a group of women who are beginning to familiarize themselves with opportunities historically denied. It is a dream that is only possible by supporting them. 
Social/developmental challenge: The first phase of the project is the Cimufiana School of Community Leadership, which is focused on developing positive leadership skills, strengthening academic knowledge and developing social skills. We believe that in this way women have a greater chance of success in the development of their financial self-management projects. 

In spite of this, the main challenge to give continuity to the project is to obtain funds that will allow the women to start the development of their entrepreneurship projects, in addition to providing professional training for the world of work so that they also have the opportunity to join the formal labor market. 

In order to guarantee the continuity of the project, it is necessary that CIMUF as an NGO can guarantee its administrative, operational and technical functioning, as well as specialized personnel to achieve better results.
Expected intervention model: The project under development is the Cimufiana School of Community Leadership -CurundÃº. This project seeks to develop and install capacities for economic development, social mobilization and community development through the strengthening of leadership in women, especially LBT, migrants, Afro-descendants and indigenous people. The first stage of training lasts 4 months and the training topics: History and Identity of CurundÃº for the defense and territorial appropriation, Discrimination and Human Rights, Collective Leadership, History of Women in Politics and Development, Sexual and Reproductive Health, Digital Empowerment, Personal and Professional Image, and design of community and economic development projects. There are currently 30 beneficiaries. As a final assignment, the beneficiaries must formulate a personal economic proposal that also supports the sustainable development of the CurundÃº community, which is an impoverished area.

This fund will make it possible to achieve the second level "Project to strengthen women's economic leadership" whose objective is to achieve women's economic and social empowerment. Seed funds will be managed as an initial investment, and specialized business trainers will be hired. We also seek to strengthen professional skills to seek employment, since most of the women in this community have not had access to formal education.
Policy sectors — Employment and private sector development: No; Education: No; Social protection: No; Criminal justice: No; Health: No; Agriculture: No; Environment and climate change: No; Water, Sanitation and Hygiene: No; Energy: No; Humanitarian: No; Early Childhood Education: No; Other: Yes
Primary SDG goal: 8
Country income classification of beneficiaries — Low-income: No; Lower-middle-income: No; Upper-middle-income: No; High-income: Yes
Notes: Data for this pipeline project was last updated in August 2024
Delivery location: Panama