Jordanian participation in the World Bank Global Youth Conference 2008
Dana Shuqom- Executive Director of Business & Professional Women- Amman spoke at the World Bank 2008 Global Youth Conference Empowering a Generation: Developing Skills and Capacities in Youth at the World Bank Headquarters in Washington, DC.
This year’s conference, attracting an audience of more than 500 individuals from around the world, emphasized the urgency to focus on and invest in the needs of young people the world over. To this end, the conference convened practitioners, experts, academia and organizations from around the world and facilitated the exchange of lessons learned, formulation of new ideas and models, and the creation of symbiotic relationships with the common goal of empowering the world’s youth.
Shuqom presented the Jordanian experience and her pilot project “Woman-to-Woman: Mentoring and Capacity Building Leading to Job Creation for Orphaned Female Youth in Jordan”.
Orphaned females aged between 19 and 25 were placed in internship programs at organizations/units managed by female executives. They spent 3 days weekly for three months being coached on life and work skills. A dozen organizations from the private and public sector offered these internship opportunities. The program was implemented in partnership with Al-Aman Fund, an NGO established by Her Majesty Queen Rania AlAbdullah, specialized in providing post-care to orphans graduating from care centers.
“Woman-to-Woman” was designed to introduce these young women to successful female role models while allowing them to network with business owners and successful professionals in a protected and secure environment. Other project deliverables included the interns receiving guidance, mentoring and job training to improve their employability and life skills, and providing income support to the interns throughout the duration of the project. It was also structured in a way that allowed the young orphaned women to discover and seek productive jobs opportunities in which they would earn salaries significantly higher than the minimum wage. At the conclusion of the project, several interns were offered part-time jobs, while other where promised job opportunities to be available upon their graduation.
About the results of this project Shuqom said:” A small budget, real commitment, and building partnerships were enough to make a difference in the lives of tens of disadvantaged young women. Along with the opportunity to earn better incomes, these orphaned youth have received the gifts of confidence, hope, and knowledge. The benefits of “Woman- to- Woman” project will spill over to reach the families of these young women when they become mothers and wives. “
Attendees of the conference explored the possibilities of scaling up the project to include both male and female disadvantaged youth, and expanding it to become a nation-wide project to be offered to hundreds of university graduates across the country. As a result of presenting “Woman-to-Woman” project at this conference, Shuqom was asked to advise on the implementation of this project in other areas of the world and especially in Africa.
The World Bank Global Youth Conference sessions featured organizations from Asia, Africa, Europe, the Americas, and the Middle East. Representatives from these organizations presented their key projects and engaged in discussions on the challenges, constraints and successes experienced during the implementation and evaluation of their work.
