Women Engagement

Women engagement, leadership, alongside gender equality are a core focus of BDC’s programming. In alignment with Sustainable Development Goals SDGs 4, 5, 8, and 10, BDC promotes women’s socio-economic empowerment as a key driver of gender equality and inclusive, sustainable economic growth. Since 2004, BDC has worked to address barriers that limit women’s participation in the economy and society, including limited access to decent work, occupational segregation, and restrictive social norms.

Through tailored, gender-sensitive vocational training—including non-traditional professions, alongside entrepreneurship support packages for incubation and acceleration, and through career counseling, mentorship, and coaching, BDC equips women with practical tools to enter the labor market, advance their careers, and lead positive change within their communities.

While women’s rights and gender equality are mainstreamed across BDC’s portfolio, BDC also designs and implements dedicated programs that respond to women’s specific needs and priorities.

Key Projects

EU-Madad Program (Towards Stronger Economic Participation of Women in Jordan):

EU- supported action, implemented by the EuroMed Feminist Initiative (EFI) in collaboration with the Business Development Centre (BDC) and Tamkeen Association for Legal Aid and Human Rights. The program aimed to strengthening women’s economic participation through capacity building and employment support, including job matching, support to home-based businesses and joint ventures. The program supported the skills development of 5,278 Syrian and Jordanian women to enter the labor market, and seed funding for 50 businesses, with engagement of Women Economic Empowerment Units in targeted municipalities to help sustain impact by building the capacity of government units to lead and replicate program activities in the future. The Program focused on strengthening access to protection, participation, and services for women refugees, and host communities.

Vocational Entrepreneurship for Women (Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities – Jordan:

the project focused on building women’s vocational and entrepreneurship capabilities to increase self-employment by strengthening entrepreneurial behaviors and business management practices, enabling participants to compete nationally and internationally.

Gender Sensitization in in the Jordanian Ecosystem:

the project implemented by BDC and supported by KVINFO, this project aimed to strengthen women’s participation in the Jordanian labor market by working with private sector employers. It supported selected companies to improve internal human resources policies and workplace practices through training and consulting, with a focus on recruitment, retention, women-friendly workplace policies, and advancing women into senior and leadership roles.

GAIN (Gender-Responsive and Inclusive Politics and Economics in the MENA Region):

A GIZ-funded initiative that supported industrial enterprises in Jordan to strengthen gender equality practices and improve gender-related performance, working with 20 key enterprises to strengthen gender-related practices and performance, including hiring and promotion outcomes and the development of workplace policies and mechanisms.

Operationalize a Business Incubator:

UN Women funded project aimed to engage Syrian refugee women in Zaatari and Azraq Camps through micro-business development support, strengthening entrepreneurial mindsets and skills through training, capacity building, mentorship, networking, and pitching sessions.

Support to Women-Led CBOs for Modeling Social Enterprises:

A UNICEF funded program aimed to develop local tourism initiatives by engaging women and young women (18–24) to strengthening the management and production capacity of local CBOs and building participants’ ability to develop local initiatives into sustainable, revenue-generating social enterprises, including service provision and local product supply.