Launching Economic Achievement Program

Canada will contribute $5.16 million in funding to the Launching Economic Achievement Program (LEAP), a four-year project in Jordan that will support the empowerment of women and girls.

LEAP, which will be carried out by the Canadian Bureau for International Education (CBIE), will contribute to women’s economic empowerment in Jordan by increasing business productivity and job opportunities generated by women entrepreneurs, as well as by reducing gender-specific barriers to entrepreneurship and to joining and remaining in the workforce. Currently, only 15 percent of women in Jordan are actively engaged in the labour market, a level below regional and world averages.

Project activities will include:

• development of a local business incubator for women that includes training, mentoring, advisory services and networking;

• creation of modules for entrepreneurship training to be delivered throughout Jordan;

• delivery of a leaders and entrepreneurs program for girls that will include a national competition and after-school clubs; and

• capacity building and sensitizing of key local stakeholders, including government officials, private sector leaders, academics and civil society members, with the aim of integrating women’s employment needs into decision making and planning.

Women will be the primary stakeholders, recipients and implementers of the project. The beneficiaries will include:

• 60 local business mentors trained to provide advice and support;

• 15,000 women provided with access to online training, job boards and industry reports;

• 2,500 girls who will have completed the leaders and entrepreneurs program; and

• 300 representatives of key stakeholder groups engaged in dialogue to identify solutions to increase women’s participation in the workforce.

Canada is committed to working with partners such as CBIE to advance the rights and empowerment of women and girls.