August 20, 2008, Ramallah

The Palestinian Businesswomen's Association; Asala and The Palestinian Initiative for the Promotion of Global Dialogue and Democracy; Miftah, concluded two training courses today in a graduation held at Miftah's office in Ramallah.  The course, given by trainers from the Women's Economical Empowerment Unit; Irada project under the umbrella of Asala, dealt with issues related to management, marketing and finance and benefited a group of 24 women from rural villages around Ramallah and Al-Bireh.

Each 5-day course is a total of 30 hours and provides theoretical and practical training in technical issues necessary to successfully operate and manage income generating projects.  The women were from Almughayar, Abu Falah, Alnabi Salih and Deir Ibzee villages and were divided up into two groups: one group attended the training at Asala's office in Ramallah, and the second group attended the training in Abu Falah village. 

At the graduation ceremony, Dr. Lily Feidy, General Secretary of Miftah, emphasized the importance of women's endurance, presence and sustainability in income generating projects.  She pointed out that the trainees should use all the information, experience and knowledge they gained from the training to better their projects, and encouraged the trainees to do their utmost to ensure the success of their projects.

Buthaina Shayeb, the training coordinator at the Irada project, briefly explained the Irada project and pointed out the team's willingness to replicate the courses.  She went on to say that the Irada project would follow up carefully on the impact of the courses, and provide one-on-one or small group counseling to Palestinian micro entrepreneurs whenever necessary.  The Irada project is also working to organize community based business clubs which will allow Palestinian women micro entrepreneurs a chance to meet regularly, exchange experiences and support, provide assistance to one another, enjoy recreational activities and leisure time, and benefit from strength in numbers.

Maleeha Nassar Abu Zayed, Program Coordinator for Miftah's ‘Empowering Rural Women through Income Generating Activities' Project, commented on the importance of cooperation in order to ensure the success of the women's projects: it is clear that the women really benefited from these courses, they were very active and involved. The training given by Irada is the first step of  Miftah's project.  The next step will be technical training on the specific income generating projects, namely greenhouses and bee farming.

Bisan AbuRouqti, the Manager of the Democracy and Justice Program at Miftah, stated that Miftah's first experience in cooperating with Asala proved to be very valuable, as the training is targeted at micro projects-exactly what Miftah is offering the participating women. The training that was delivered will go a long way in ensuring the success of the women's projects.

Finally, the trainees themselves spoke about the training, again commenting on its importance.  They ended by thanking Miftah and Irada for their efforts.