ILO celebrates new graduates of Women entrepreneurs’ Digitalisation programme

AMMAN — The International Labour Organisation (ILO) has recently celebrated the graduation of 156 beneficiaries of its “Digitalisation of Projects for Women Entrepreneurs in Jordan” programme.

On behalf of the Minister of Labour Nadia Rawabdeh, the ministry’s Secretary-General Farouk Hadidi attended the event, which was organised by the ILO in partnership with the Jordan River Foundation, according to a statement for The Jordan Times. 

Featuring the presence of representatives of government institutions and civil society organisations, the ceremony marked the graduation of 156 Jordanian and Syrian women from the Digitalisation Programme, which is part of the project “Formalising Access to the Legal Labour Market for Refugees and Host Communities in Jordan”, supported by the US Department of State’s Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration.

The programme, part of the ILO’s efforts to promote women’s economic empowerment in Jordan, is aimed to strengthen Jordanian and Syrian women’s entrepreneurship. 

The initiative, which was implemented in several phases, included the development of digitisation guides tailored to the establishment of women-led enterprises in the Jordanian context. 

Some 422 women received entrepreneurship training as part of the programme. 

ILO-certified experts developed and adapted the digitisation guides to the Jordanian context, with 20 specialised trainers from local partners representing government institutions and civil society organisations were trained. 

A total of 182 Jordanian and Syrian women entrepreneurs were trained to digitise their businesses. 

Led by a team of specialised trainers, this training provided material support and resulted in the graduation of 156 participants. 

Paul Baldwin, political counsellor at the US Embassy, expressed pride in celebrating the graduates of the Women Entrepreneurs Projects programme. 

He cited the impact of the programme on Jordanian women and refugees, and thanked the Jordanian government and people for their generosity in hosting refugees.

Baldwin underscored the importance of programs like the Women Entrepreneurs Projects in demonstrating the positive results of US-Jordanian cooperation, especially as the two nations celebrate 75 years of partnership.

Qais Qatamin, chief technical adviser to ILO programme of Support to the Crisis Response, emphasised that the initiative aims not only to promote businesses, but also to empower women and youth by equipping them with the skills necessary to navigate a rapidly changing economic landscape. 

The graduation ceremony also included the honouring of the 20 specialised trainers and the distribution of financial grants to graduates of the programme.