THE Rural Woman Supports

WHEREAS there is an increasing realization about the limitation of traditional models of businesses especially from the perspective of sustainable development, environmental conservation and promotion of social values such as equity and inclusivity while creating a network of key stakeholders including entrepreneurs, investors, business angels and international organizations to augment necessary changes in the existing ways of pursuit of economic ideals;

WHEREAS the international community realizes the importance of enterprising ability of young people for the promotion of higher standards of living, full employment, and conditions of economic and social progress and development, with a view to the creation of conditions of stability and well-being based on respect for the principle of equal rights;

WHEREAS the emergence of various models of social enterprises are highlighting the crucial role that innovative business solutions, and in particular the role of youth-led social enterprises and start-ups, can play in achieving social objectives at local, regional and global levels and in addressing pressing social and economic challenges;

WHEREAS there is an recognition of the importance of providing entrepreneurs access to the necessary tools, knowledge, and networks to promote collaboration on the role of youth led social enterprises, and to build the capacities of existing and aspiring social entrepreneurs, leveraging on their respective expertise, with a view to achieving the Agenda 2030 and the SDGs;

Representing a collage of social entrepreneurs, campaigners, NGOs, young innovators, researchers and academicians present at the International Youth Social Entrepreneurship Summit, 2021, we, believe that social entrepreneurship and youth led social entrepreneurship should receive desired attention to empower young women and men in realizing their full social and economic potential and in putting innovative business ideas into practice with a view to achieving higher levels of living and development Consequently, we call upon the decision makers to:

• Increase efforts to build a supporting entrepreneur ecosystem for encouraging social entrepreneurs to successfully create and develop their social enterprises, including rightful legal recognition, improved access to markets, networks, knowledge sharing platforms, and skills (global virtual education and training), and improved access to sustainable sources of finance;
• Establish partnership channels among all stakeholders (young people, government, civil society, academicians, advocates, political leaders and community leaders) for the promotion of entrepreneurship, and particularly social entrepreneurship, for inclusive and sustainable development, and recognize social entrepreneurship as a key driver of job creation and economic independence and empowerment, with a special focus on groups which are underrepresented in the society;
• Develop a strong financial marketplace for social entrepreneurship by giving legal recognition and incentivizing private sector leaders to support financial arrangements such as crowdsourcing, venture philanthropy, and angel funds and other funding channels which provide social enterprises working in the sector of climate change, sustainable development, agriculture extension services, health services etc;
• Accelerate the task of designing activities to increase the number of social enterprises and startups which are committed to jointly take action towards the achievement of the SDGs and promote research on the best practices regarding social entrepreneurship to facilitate sharing of best-practices in different sectors and countries;
• Bring entrepreneurship classes within in the formal education system, with a specific module on social entrepreneurship and create platforms to increase soft skills, digital skills and other leadership attributes of social entrepreneurs;
• Promote networking among aspiring and potential entrepreneurs and social entrepreneurs, local authorities and national governments, international organizations, voluntary organizations, representatives from academia, science, technology and educational institutions, investors, and others, to commit to this Declaration and strive for its observance through their respective strategies to support and enable entrepreneurship, with a particular focus on youth, women.