Promoting Jordanian Women Skills in Small Projects and Economic Encouragement, “Women Entrepreneurs”

The project aimed at promoting Jordanian females’ skills in small projects and general economic encouragement. The target group was current employed women working in small and mid-level enterprises (SMEs). However, these SMEs are not sustainable and face some obstacles. This project aimed to lead these projects toward better sustainability and productivity. This was done by enhancing the skills of these women and improving information sharing and networking amongst them, and introduced them to new expertise and markets. One of the outcomes was research on building of a knowledge base compiling challenges, which micro-entrepreneurs are facing, and the successful establishment of the Ladies Association of Irbid. One of the success stories is a female participant who was able to open her own small home factory, making traditional foods. As her business grew she was able to employ over 40 local women. She was then able to export products to supermarkets like Safeway under the brand “EDAM”. This project was implemented over 12 months, and was funded by the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), with total grant of (68,525USD).