The Millennium Challenge Account – Jordan (MCA-Jordan) has collaborated with the USAID Local Enterprise Support Program (LENS) to sustain its successful women plumber program. USAID LENS has begun an intensive business training program for 24 women plumbers, with a view to supporting them to establish competitive businesses in the plumbing sector.
MCA-Jordan is a government-owned company established in 2010 to implement a $275.1 million compact between Jordan and the United States (U.S.) Government’s Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC). The compact aims to reduce poverty through economic growth in Jordan by addressing priority issues such as water scarcity. In line with its efforts to address the shortage of water in the country, MCA-Jordan developed the unique Women Plumber Program in which eligible women are encouraged to learn plumbing and supported with training and resources to pursue the trade. This program achieved great success in up-skilling women in Zarqa and addressing gender issues. As a result of this success, MCA-Jordan recently began collaborating with organizations that are able to support the plumbers to build on their technical training and sustain the momentum of the program’s success.
USAID LENS is a five-year project that supports small business growth and better economic planning to strengthen Jordanian communities against economic adversity. LENS initiatives focus on supporting the growth of micro and small enterprises, including several that target businesses owned by women, as well as aspiring women seeking to establish a business, particularly in non-traditional sectors such as the trades.
LENS held a five-day business training program (from November 13-17, 2016) for the 24 plumbing professionals at the Zarqa Chamber of Industry. This training is the first in a series of eight planned multiple-day training modules in the coming months. This training program will impart the business skills needed for this group of plumbers to establish sustainable, competitive businesses. The first module covered objective-setting, business plan development and several soft-skill aspects of entrepreneurship: communications and negotiation skills, developing self-confidence, managing stress and work-life balance, gender awareness, and networking. Other planned modules will address business skills development, business registration and licensing, finance, use of technology and other relevant content.