On Wednesday, June 15, 2022, MoreThanAJob subgrantee- Partners for Sustainable Development (PSD), organized a closing event of its groundbreaking project titled “Orjuwan: Fostering the Economic Empowerment of Fresh Female Graduates from the Marginalized Areas and Preparing them to Enroll in the Labor Market".

The event was attended by representatives of project partners and local stakeholders including Mr. Iyad Al-Kurdi, Member of the Board of Directors of Nablus Chamber of commerce and Industry, Dr. Muhammad Al-Araj, Director General of Employment at the Ministry of Labour, Dr. Samah Saleh, MoreThanAJob project’s representative at An-Najah University, and Mr. Jawad Abu Aoun, Executive Director of Partners in PSD.

Orjuwan project aimed at promoting economic and social development by fostering the economic empowerment of fresh female graduates from marginalized areas and preparing them to enter the labour market.

It targeted 50 Palestinian young people from low-income socio-economic backgrounds aged between 20-35 through professional programs in the field of graphic design and digital marketing, fostering their capacities of self-employment, providing networking opportunities and encouraging their entrepreneurship.

The beneficiaries of Orjuwan Project were selected from the early stages upon specific selection criteria including gender (priority for females), age between 20 - 35 years old, experience in the field of digital marketing and graphic design (as an additional point for applicants), to have a project idea of ​​their own, or would like to create a project (ideas of a professional nature will be considered as a bonus point for applicants), taking into account the economic status of the applicants, their interest to join the program, the level of leadership and self-awareness, priority for the  unemployed and the residency in rural areas.

At an advanced stage of the project, the selection criteria took into account more specific criteria including technical skills, commitment, language (Arabic/Englsih), time management and communication skills.

The closing event was organized to celebrate the completion of a series of intensive trainings in the fields of digital marketing, graphic design, life skills and business planning. The trainings provided the participants with the required skills and competences to develop their ideas and enhance their own projects. The training courses were followed by an evaluation process that included 28 participants who presented their own pioneering project ideas with linking these ideas to Orjuwan trainings and its outputs.

The evaluation process took place at Nablus Chamber Hall for two days. It included a specialized committee who evaluated each presentation based on a set of criteria, taking into consideration the performance, project impact on the labor market, creativity, market study and competitors, clarity of objectives, and the sustainability of the project.

After the completion of the evaluation process, 10 projects were selected and funded with priority given to female participants who have experience in graphic design and digital marketing and based on economic need.

In his welcome speech, Mr. Abo Own expressed his gratitude to all involved partners and project coordinators who contributed to the success of Orjuwan project and this event. He also asserted the importance of these trainings in fostering the trainees’ capacities of self-employment, providing networking opportunities and encouraging their entrepreneurship.

At the end of the closing event, course completion certificates were awarded to all participants of the training courses. Furthermore, the 10 winners were granted 10 laptops for their good pioneering ideas. 

Published Links:

NCCI 1 , NCCI 2 , PSD , MoreThanAJob 1 , 2 , 3