Senate delegation visits BDC projects in Jerash, Ajloun

AMMAN — A  Jordanian Senate delegation, accompanied by UNICEF officials, visited a number of  projects implemented by the Business Development Centre (BDC) in Jerash and Ajloun governorates.

The Senate delegation was briefed on the projects by the BDC. They also met with some entrepreneurs who are part of the self-employment project "Inhad",  and the Madad project funded by the European Union through the Regional Trust Fund for the Response to the Syrian Crisis, implemented by the BDC and the Euro-Mediterranean Feminist Initiative, according to a BDC statement.

The delegation visited the Khairat Sof House, which was recently built with the support of UNICEF. The BDC restored the Khairat Sof House by building and developing a functional kitchen in addition to a training hall that can accommodate up to 40 trainees.

The BDC has conducted several recreational tourism programmes to develop a lounge to accommodate 120 visitors from the local community. The project also provided 20 job opportunities after training approximately 60 male and female trainees from the local community, the statement said.

Senator Issa Murad, head of the Labor and Social Development Committee in the Senate, said that the visit was a chance to get acquainted with the BDC’s job-generating projects in Jerash, Al Khashaiba, Dibeen and Sof.

BDC Director General Ghaleb Hijazi said that 12 pilot projects were implemented in Jerash through the National Self-Employment Programme (Inhad), which provided 73 job opportunities, noting that the programme qualified and trained 116 young men and women to set up productive projects in Jerash.

Hijazi said the programme aims to combat unemployment by supporting a culture of self-employment and establishing projects in various economic sectors.

The BDC is a Jordanian non-profit organisation founded in 2004.