businesswomen s associations exist in almost all mena countries and provide some form of business support mentoring trade fairs seminars despite their limited financial human and technical resources they provide a wealth of information on the business constraints and support needs of their members but their policy advocacy role is often limited because they are excluded from national policy dialogue the wbf is an interregional network of government private sector and civil society representatives which works with governments to improve policies and legislation impacting women s economic integration it also works with businesses ngos and academia to facilitate an exchange of experiences and good practices for providing concrete support to female entrepreneurs