Women
and Enterprise Development
The
Women and Enterprise Development Project was established in 1986 to accelerate the integration and participation of poor women in national socio-economic development. It empowers women to become active participants in their own development, informed decision-makers in their homes and communities, and trained income-earners in their society.
The Project, initially funded by the UNFPA, trains disadvantaged women in the management and implementation of small-scale and sustainable businesses. The NHF, one of the first NGOs in Jordan to successfully turn over the management of several small micro-enterprises to women’s cooperatives, provides intensive training on management structures, production, and marketing. Eight projects, now registered as cooperatives, allow each woman to be an equal shareholder. When required, NHF assists in product development and marketing.
MEDICINAL HERBS PROJECT
Initiated in 1989, Phase I of the Medicinal Herbs Project enabled women to turn their home gardens and underutilized lands into market gardens for aromatic and medicinal herbs such as thyme, sage, and chamomile.
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A woman plants
an herb garden in her home in northern Jordan |
In just over one year, the Project produced the equivalent of 10% of Jordan’s exports of thyme and sage. Launched in six villages in the north of Jordan, the Medicinal Herbs Project trained 65 women to plant and supervise herbal gardens. The Project provides financial support to all stages of production from planting to packaging and marketing the herbs. Their successful home enterprises enabled the beneficiaries to expand into other income-generating activities such as animal husbandry and bee keeping.
Phase II of the Project, supported by the Afro-Asian Rural Development Organization (AARDO) and the Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs, established a seedlings nursery on land donated by the local community to introduce herbs that could be inexpensively processed to meet market demand and expand the benefits of the Project to the Bani Kinanah district in northern Jordan.
Phase III of the project, with additional assistance from AARDO and the Government of Taiwan, established a revolving loan fund to extend credit in the form of raw materials and provide training agricultural and technical skills. An innovative Product Development Unit was established to experiment on the best market usage of herbs.
Based on the success of this project, funding from the Ministry of Planning was secured to spread cultivation of medicinal herbs to another five rural villages, aiming to hand over the
project to women cooperatives. The Project aspires to produce herbs in bulk quantities to sell to the growing pharmaceutical industry in Jordan.
Success
Story
The Medicinal Herbs project helped Um Fareed accomplish what seemed like the impossible, financing her children’s university education in Jordan and abroad.
She became a successful business woman, producing and selling seedlings in her district. Um Fareed expanded her business by cultivating more land for medicinal herbs. She helped provide her husband and other family members the opportunity to work alongside her. By the end of 2000, hundreds women and their families had benefited from the Medicinal Herbs Project.
AQABA CENTER
The Aqaba Center was established in 1986 as a community development center to improve the standard of living of families in Aqaba, to meet their different social, economic and cultural needs. In cooperation with the Spanish NGO, Asamblea de Cooperacion por La Paz, the Center further expanded in 1995 to incorporate the Aqaba Center’s Production Project, providing employment opportunities for women. The women are trained to produce marketable tourist items such as patchwork scenes of Jordan and dolls in traditional Arab dress. In cooperation with governmental and non-governmental organizations, the Center has been recognized as an important venue in Aqaba for several cultural, educational, health and environmental activities and workshops, benefiting thousands of women, children and men. Since its expansion, the number of beneficiaries reached over 50000 individuals, with women making up a majority of the total.
The on-going projects at the Center include:
Aqaba Production Center for Women
Established in 1995, the Center offers training facilities and job opportunities for women to raise their family income and improve standards of living.
The workshop has four production lines: Sewing, tie-dye, tapestry patchwork and traditional Arab doll production. Products are sold through the Jordan Design and Trade Center in Amman, as well as the Noor Al Hussein Foundation shop in Aqaba, in addition to five star hotels in Aqaba.
Aqaba Children’s Library
Founded in 1996, the Library is the first and only one for children in Aqaba. The Library’s beneficiaries reached around 3000.The Library has been the venue for activities including, cultural programs such as reading and scientific contests, awareness campaigns on different topics such as children’s rights, environment issues, drug awareness, health care and first aid.
The “Children of the Coral Reef of Aqaba” Project, in cooperation with The Quality of Life and the Performing Arts Center, raises awareness on the biodiversity of marine life and the protection of the coral reef of
Aqaba.
Information Technology Center
Launched in May 2000, the Center provides training and IT access to the local community at low fees. It was established in cooperation with The Royal Commission for Information Technology Community Centers (ITCC) in Jordan and subsidized until May 2003 by UNDP and the National Information Center.
An extension to the ITCC, Enhanced Productivity Center opened at the Aqaba Center to provide business support services to strengthen efficiency of micro and small enterprises. In a short period, the Center was able to set up an Information Technology Club providing specialized courses and will soon host Aqaba’s first CD library.
Next
Contact
Information:
Noor
Al Hussein Foundation
P.O. Box 926687
Amman 11110 - Jordan
Tel: (962-6) 560 7460
Fax: (962-6) 560 6994
Email: nhf@nic.net.jo
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