Based on the observation that two-thirds of businesses in the world are created by women, the IECD’s programs focus on their financial independence as a key vector for sustainable economic development. However, women face many obstacles and it should be highlighted that the income generated from their activities has a limited potential for growth. The IECD is building relationships with local partners involved in the promotion and empowerment of women and is setting up many initiatives that help women to develop their activities: 40% of the beneficiaries of the IECD’s Support Program for VSEs are currently women and this percentage is particularly high in some countries (80% in Palestinian Territories, 78% in Lebanon, 76% in Vietnam, 64% in Madagascar). Some projects are even reserved solely for women. Thus, in Palestine, the IECD supports the development of a women’s cooperative which currently employs about 20 workers and also offers an agri-food training course in order to provide women in the East Jerusalem region with marketing and management skills. Since the end of 2015, the IECD has been working with the Women’s Union, a socio-political organization that helps and supports Vietnamese women. In 2016, the IECD trained about 50 women from this organization in the basics of management. In Congo-Brazzaville, 32 young street girls participated in the basic management training thanks to a partnership with the ASI association. In line with these projects, the IECD has built a partnership with the Bel group which aims to support and train street vendors in the Ivory Coast, DRC and Vietnam, a majority of whom are women, in how to manage their business. The training content was reviewed in order to adapt to a less educated public and 276 people were trained in 2016.