Women and Youth Driving Sustainable Transformation
Context and objectives
The MENA region is highly vulnerable to climate change impacts, where drought, heatwaves, and extreme weather threaten water and food security and increase the risk of forced displacement and violent conflict. Economies in the region are facing a severe crisis rooted in ongoing cross-border political instability. They are dependent on extractive industries and unsustainable production and agriculture practices, leaving them vulnerable to economic shocks unless they urgently transition to a sustainable model. The green economy offers multiple potential benefits for businesses, including efficiencies across value chains and income opportunities for youth and women.
Women and Youth Driving Sustainable Transformation works through an innovative symbiotic approach. Its objective is to develop the skills of the targeted youth and women in green entrepreneurship and sustainable business and consumption practices. They will then apply these newly acquired skills in establishing their own green startups or working with selected MSEs to support their sustainability and facilitate the greening of their business operations.
Future Pioneers (Jordan/Tunisia) and Birzeit University Business Hub/B-Hub (Palestine) are joining forces to address these challenges. The proposed action approach was developed by the B-Hub within the EU-funded Venture in Palestine project and highly evaluated and recommended for replication.
Location
Key figures
Duration:
12 months
Countries:
3
Budget for the action:
EUR374,899.65
Grant awarded:
EUR262,899.92
Promoter
Future Pioneers for Empowering Communities’ Members in the Environmental and Educational Fields (FPEC) is a local Jordanian non-profit organization established in 2012. It was founded with the aim of overcoming poverty and contributing to human development in the most remote areas of Jordan. The main thematic areas of our work include socio-economic empowerment of women and youth, community dialogue, civic engagement, climate change adaptation measures, waste management, renewable energy, and WASH (water, sanitation, and hygiene), while human rights, gender, and the environment remain crosscutting themes in all our work. In most of our projects, we target women, youth, and marginalized groups identified as most in need of our services. Since its establishment in 2012, FPEC has also been closely involved in supporting the most marginalized groups in host communities, including both Syrian and Jordanian women, youth, and young females, through life and economic skills programs aimed at improving these groups’ employability.
FPEC and the Birzeit University Business Hub (B-Hub) are partnering within this framework, as the proposed action approach was developed by the B-Hub within the EU-funded Venture in Palestine project.
Beneficiaries
- 270 women and youth with focus on university students, fresh unemployed graduates, people with disability, women-refugees, and women-forced breadwinners
- 90 micro and small enterprises (MSEs) with priority to about-to-bankruptcy enterprises and enterprises facing critical needs to greening their products and operations.
Key actions
Training in Sustainable Consumption and Production, Digital Transformation, and Green Entrepreneurship for 270 women and youth
Regional Awareness Campaign on Green Consumption and Production led by the graduates in the first action
Practical Application of Knowledge and Skills within MSEs
Training and individual mentoring to 60 women and youth – entrepreneurs (graduates from the first action) on starting their own green businesses, connecting to finance, and assisting in establishing real green startups on the ground
Selection of MSEs and diagnosis of their current performance including environmental problems and needs
Individual mentoring to each enterprise on enhancing and greening products and business operations, by the graduates of the first action
Establishing a regional community of green transformation
Expected results
Capacity of 270 women and youth is built in Green Entrepreneurship and Sustainable Consumption and Production.
90 MSEs have sustained their operations and adopted sustainable production practices
