"We have become much stronger and more confident; we proved to our families, particularly fathers and brothers, that we can be trusted on achieving a lot.” That’s what one young woman cited as the benefits of CARE’s Jordanian Community Development and Support project. Survey results show it’s not just one young lady. 87% of people say they now have more respect for working women.
The Jordanian Community Development and Support project ran from 2014-2017 with $3.4 million in support from Global Affairs Canada. It reached 25,377 people directly.
What did we accomplish?
- Women get more respect: 87% of people say they have more respect for working women than they did before the project.
- People are ready to work: 100% of people in the project say they feel more productive, and 89% of people say they have acquired new skills. 1,505 people are now workforce ready.
- More people have jobs: 72% of people in the technical and vocational training programs got jobs and increased their income.
- Incomes went up: 34% of people in the project say their monthly incomes went up by at least 100 Jordanian Dinar ($141 USD).
- People are less stressed: 90% of people report lower stress levels from being a part of the project.
- Women have more freedom: 100% of women say they have more mobility after the project, and 81% say they are more comfortable to negotiate what they need out of relationships. 91% of women say they are more involved with household decisions.
How did we get there?
- Focus on quality case management: The project customized its case management tools to work with both host communities and refugees, and had standardized operating procedures for all of its case managers.
- Use cash: 25,377 people got support from cash transfers, using ATM cards to make sure that transfers were secure. 78% of people said that meant they could meet their needs.
- Connect assessments to plans: The project used market assessments to help link more than 2,000 people to $223,298 in loans that were specifically targeted to businesses where there was a good market so that more businesses survived.
- Work with young people: The project worked with youth leaders who created and ran 60 local projects. They also helped train 776 young people with new vocational skills.
- Understand what women need: The project built from gender assessments and a focus on what obstacles women faced to make sure that they could help women overcome those barriers.
Want to learn more?
Check out the final evaluation.