Souq Ne'meh Continues to Empower and Support Women Entrepreneurs to Grow

September 18, 2018

Maha Al Majali and Hanade Sraiheen

Jordanian women from all over the country, who desire to chase their dreams, and elevate their minimum income, carry their products to the center of the Jordanian capital, Amman, to be presented in the seasonal "Souq Ne'meh”.

Souq Nemeh is part of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP)’s “Women Economic Empowerment” project. The project is implemented by The Princess Taghrid Institute for Development and Training.

The project was created to support rural women from remote areas by providing opportunities for them to market their traditional and manual local products and expand their customers’ base by participating in the market which is held every at Zaha Cultural Centre in Khalda area from 4:00PM-8:00PM every Saturday.

Ekhlas Al-Zyoud homemade food

Each product tells a story of a strong and entrepreneurial women who come from Tafileh, Karak, Ajloun, Mafraq, Irbid, Salt and other areas every week.

Maha Al Majali and Hanade Sraiheen, a mother and her daughter participated at the market for the first time.

Maha have been knitting and selling her products for more than 30 years, after her kids grew up and her husband got sick she had to contribute to her family’s income. “I took flower arranging courses, learned how to make accessories and developed my knitting skills,” she said.

Hanade was inspired by her mother’s work, so she decided to learn how to make accessories and homemade candles. “After my husband passed away I needed to find a way to support my family financially,” she said.

Hanade started making candles at home and selling them to her neighbours and relatives, “I do not have a college degree, so I needed to find something that can be made at home and at the same profitable.”

When she saw that people liked her products she decided to develop her skills and add something new to her work to make it distinctive, “I learned how to make shapes with the candles also, I took accessory design courses,” she added.

ceramic art

“I am glad to be here in the Souq, being exposed to new experiences in addition to promoting my products which helps in increasing my income” says Ekhlas Al-Zyoud who makes dairy products at home.

After joining the UNDP program and gaining the skills and the popularity she has now, Ekhlas was able to construct her house and buy a car to deliver her products.

For the second year in a row, Souq Ne’meh offers a space for women to display their products with a view to better their income.

Souq Ne'meh at night