海角大神

In the Palestinian territories, entrepreneurs are everywhere, but successful businesses are hard to come by.

The economic situation in the Palestinian territories is uniquely difficult, and aid agencies have stepped in to help maintain living wages as much as possible under the blockade imposed by Israel. In recent years, business development and entrepreneurship programs surfaced across the West Bank and Gaza, and suddenly there was an influx of people trying to start their own business to escape the .

However, many of the programs put in place lacked follow-through. Entrepreneurs were left to sink or swim on their own. 鈥淚t was like walking them to a cliff,鈥� explains Samin Malik, coordinator of at Tomorrow鈥檚 Youth Organization based in Nablus. So TYO took a different approach鈥攊nstead of just helping female entrepreneurs launch businesses, .

TYO鈥檚 Women鈥檚 Incubation Services for Entrepreneurs (WISE) brought back six businesses that had developed a foundation from their initial women鈥檚 entrepreneurship program鈥�, and recruited nine additional female entrepreneurs by running advertisements in local newspapers, radio, and on Facebook. The requirements were simple鈥攂usinesses had to have a foundation or business plan already completed, and had to be based in the northern West Bank.

Candidates who responded to ads underwent two rounds of interviews, designed not only to determine the entrepreneur's eligibility for the program, but also to assess her strengths and needs moving forward. Partnering with the , TYO sent their final 15 candidates to one-on-one coaching early in the process in order to set their women up for targeted support and success. Additionally, the year-long incubation project will provide marketing, access to capital, and financial-growth trainings, as well as business English and social-media training facilitated by last year鈥檚 Palestinian delegation.

When planning for an incubation center, TYO kept in mind that the conservative culture in the Palestinian territories often limits businesswomen鈥檚 opportunities to participate in meetings, classes, conferences, and other development programs. Furthermore, the when they do not see immediate growth or results in their efforts to propel their businesses forward.

By planning programming in the mornings and weekends, TYO is able to work around many of the restrictions on women鈥檚 mobility. Not only that, but establishing the TYO center in Nablus as the base for WISE, they are able to fill a gap by being , and provide support to women who may not be able to travel all the way to Ramallah, where such programs are more common. By serving as a support system to the businesswomen, Samin and Inas Badawi鈥攁 local Palestinian鈥攑rovide examples of female-to-female support that is uncommon in Nablus, and try to foster the same sense of encouragement between the women they work with.

It is this model of American-Palestinian cooperation that sets TYO鈥檚 WISE program apart from other entrepreneurship trainings in the Palestinian territories. Their model provides them with contacts and networking within the West Bank, but also regionally and internationally because of the center鈥檚 connections with the US State Department, the British-based and US organizations that support women's empowerment in the Middle East. While TYO is technically an American NGO, it is run largely by local staff like Inas and youth volunteers from An-Najah University. Due to its sustainable and holistic approach, TYO's incubation doesn鈥檛 just focus on building better businesses, but building a better community where women are integrated and have full participation in society.

Struggling businesses may currently be the rule in the West Bank. But the 15 businesses in TYO鈥檚 Women鈥檚 Incubation Services for Entrepreneurs program are proving to be the exception.

鈥� at , a blog published by .

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