Business Development Center (BDC) and LOYAC

Having undertaken a UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office-funded feasibility study in 2014, we launched our first programme in Jordan in 2015 under the coordinating auspice of the King Abdullah II Fund for Development (KAFD). Prince’s Trust International has had its most sustained country presence in Jordan reaching a wide spectrum of young people.

Working in partnership with King Abdullah II Fund for Development, we have successfully delivered the Tariqi programme over the last five years. Tariqi’s broad methodology is based on the Prince’s Trust’s flagship employability programme “Get Into”, which has been running in the UK for over 10 years and supports 18-27 year-old young people, who are not in education, employment or training (NEET), move into a sustainable and desirable employment.

Many young Jordanians leave education with skills mismatched to the labour market, despite over 40% of young people enrolled in tertiary education. The Tariqi programme was created to support young people to develop the necessary skills and experience in a hands-on practical way. For each cohort we work directly with employers (Employer Partners) who are from sectors that have identified skills shortages and job opportunities, such as Insurance and ICT, and jointly design each programme and training curriculum according to their sector’s needs.

Tariqi aims to:

• Break down barriers between employers and young people
• Foster relationships between employers and training providers
• Provide young people with the skills and experience needed to move into a specific sector and secure sustainable jobs
• Reduce skills mismatch
• Help change young lives by giving them the first foot on the employment ladder
• Motivate and develop employees by involving them in the programme
• Make a difference to the local community by providing support, training and job opportunities

King Abdullah II Fund for Development (KAFD):

KAFD was founded in 2001 as a response to the directions of His Majesty King Abdullah II Ibn Al Hussein of Jordan. The fund aims to promote the Jordan’s sustainable development and seeks, through its partnership with both public and private sectors, to implement development projects in areas that suffer the most from poverty and unemployment.

KAFD provides capacity building, technical and professional support for Jordanian youth based on His Majesty’s directions to activate citizenship where citizens can participate in promoting the goals of inclusive sustainable development in the kingdom. In an endeavor to transform challenges into opportunities, KAFD seeks to attract the creative youth power to grow their talents and encourage them to innovate and create; so they can be prepared for the labor market and enabled to take social responsibility.

Business Development Center (BDC):

Established in 2004 at a non-profit organization dedicated to fostering economic development in Jordan and the region through employability training programmes, and MSMEs support that go hand-in-hand with a strong team of experts and a large pool of trainers. Through international and local university partnerships, BDC is able to remain the forefront of academic research. BDC accurately assesses market demands and designs relevant training and development programmes, provides linkages that build business opportunities, and effectively delivers customized solutions. In addition, BDC’s team operate 24 Makani Centers as community skills development hubs in local refugee camps. BDC has reached over 1million people in Jordan and the region, partnering with a number of large INGOs and the UN.

Loyac:

LOYAC began in 2008 as a small, grassroots initiative run by volunteer women, who leveraged their connections to create summer jobs and internship opportunities for Jordanian youth to prepare them for the job market.  LOYAC is now a locally-driven social enterprise that aims to improve the employability and increase the personal agency of young people in Jordan, so that they are able to lead independent, productive, and fulfilled professional and personal lives.

Loyac’s goals are:

• Instill enabling personal and professional skills in Jordan’s youth
• Bridge the gap between the employability of youth and the needs of the local and regional job markets.
• Transform unharnessed energy into positive, creative drive so that youth have the tools to    become agents of change in their lives and in their communities
• Embed a sense of agency, civic-duty, and engagement in the national landscape.
• Enable youth to become proactive and productive citizens that contribute to the governance of the nation and its leadership in the region.