“Shababna Hemtna” event focuses on employment opportunities

The “Shababna Hemtna” event within the “Tariqi Project” was held to celebrate the project’s graduates and success stories, and reviewing the most important challenges facing Jordanian youth in the labour market.

The event was attended by British Ambassador to Jordan Bridget Brind. The project is part of the King Abdullah II Fund for Development (KAFD) conducted in strategic partnership with the Prince’s Trust International, and implemented by the Business Development Centre –BDC.

Since 2015, the “Tariqi project” has worked to raise the employability of Jordanian youth through training programmes. Since its establishment, the project has trained 536 young male and female graduates of Jordanian colleges and universities aged 18-27, according to a BDC statement.

Of the project’s alumni, 62 per cent have been able to achieve their desired career and educational trajectory in fields such as the insurance sector, customer service, retail and communications.

Brend expressed her pride and gratitude for the project’s positive results for Jordanian youth. She remarked on the project’s accomplishment in building the youth’s capacity and improving their skill sets in line with the local labour market’s needs.

The ambassador also noted that this work comes as the result of the strategic partnership between the Crown Prince Foundation in Britain and the implementation of the BDC, with the support of the KAFD.

General Manager of the Business Development Centre Ghaleb Hijazi said: “Tariqi project has achieved real sustainability and tangible results with Jordanian youth… we were able to view the progress of the project’s graduates for years, and the job positions they currently occupy, so that these stories and successes inspire new participants and university graduates to start creating their own stories.”

Sheila Heffernan, director of international programmes at the Crown Prince Foundation in Britain, said: “This celebration and its wonderful experience brought me together in one room for the first time with inspiring project graduates, current participants, the private sector, employers and stakeholders, which gave everyone the opportunity to discuss the challenges and needs of the labour market together.”

Director of the Employability Raising Programme at the KAFD Laith Al Atoum said that the project aims to increase and develop the competitive advantage of Jordanian youth to enter the labour market, thanking the British Ambassador as well as other project partners.