Gender Equality National Report Hungary - European-microfinance ...

4.2. Recommendations
Women’s enterprises in the centre of support programs
In order to improve employment chances and the income situation of women and to promote
women’s enterprises, positive discrimination of women is required in government support
programs. It is particularly important now when support funds, available for human resource
development and enterprise promotion in the EU budgetary period of 2007-2013 have been
greatly increased.
Government
Within developing enterprise promotion programs, greater emphasis must be laid on the
professional planning, consistent implementation and finance of the programs as well as on
the cause analysis of the processes. When financing the programs, special care must be
taken to make the participating institutes specialize in the tasks and co-operate rather than
compete with each other. Women’s enterprises must be promoted by way of positive
discrimination because of their more disadvantageous situation primarily originating from
their traditional family roles.
Education
Training in entrepreneurial skills ought to be introduced on every level of secondary and
higher education. In fact, children’s creativity, experimental and entrepreneurial inclinations
ought to be developed as early as in primary school years.
It is also necessary to support programs that enhance women’s participation in the media,
which would result in the foundation of women’s enterprises and their social acceptance in a
positive way.
Particular promoting measures
Programs intended to reduce the administrative and financial burdens of starting, running
and ceasing a business must be implemented consistently, quickly and professionally.
Recent changes have been for the most part good; however significant simplification is
necessary in the field of tax, contribution and duty return processes. The recently launched
electronic business registration and tax return systems are a good start in following the
simplification process.
The existing program to promote the unemployed who intend to be self-employed must be
further developed and the finance limit must be eliminated. With the consideration of
international experience, it would be reasonable to provide the unemployment benefit for a
further two year period to someone who decides to start a business after six months of
unemployment, and eligibility ought to be extended to women returning from child-care leave.
Finance by banks
In order for banks to provide significantly more micro-entrepreneurs - including women - with
development loans with relatively low interest rates and for periods of more than a year, it is
necessary to enhance the services of organizations that provide guarantees as a substitute
for collateral and to improve the terms of guarantee. The JEREMIE funds allocated in the
Structural Funds can and should be used for this purpose. Further research into women and
the banking sector needs to be conducted.
Business development service providers
It is necessary to help business development service providers find the enterprises that need
their services, as well as to grade the service providers. Bridging organizations relaying
counselling services, local enterprise agencies in the capital city and the counties, which
were established by the EU PHARE program, can play an efficient role in this. Government
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