Jordan Times
Monday, July 12, 2004
Jordan Trade and Design Centre
fulfils mission
AMMAN (JT) — The Noor Al Hussein Foundation (NHF) announced on Sunday that the
goal of one of its projects, the Jordan Design and Trade Centre (JDTC), has been
successfully achieved.
The JDTC was established in 1990 to revive traditional craft trades to preserve
a unique aspect of Jordan's national heritage. In addition, this pioneering
programme focused on raising the standard of local handicraft production and
increasing access to marketing opportunities, while simultaneously creating job
opportunities for underprivileged rural women.
The success of the JDTC programme in creating and sustaining independent,
women-led cooperatives now means that the NHF programme will move to a new
phase, requiring less direct foundation support, according to an NHF statement
released yesterday.
The JDTC has been instrumental in empowering women through the establishment of
handicraft enterprises located in seven different governorates in the Kingdom.
Each production centre specialised in a craft, such as traditional rug weaving,
fabric weaving, ceramics, embroidery, basketry, silver jewellery, industrial
sewing, handmade paper and furniture production. This allowed for the
safekeeping of heritage, where knowledge and experience in local handicrafts was
passed on to a new generation. New pride surged in the social circles and among
artisans turning handicrafts and embroidery into fashionable household and
clothing items, the statement said.
All of the nine income-generation projects that were initiated and supported by
the JDTC have now been turned over to independent women-led cooperatives. Each
woman owns shares in the cooperative, they elect their own administrative staff
to manage the production centre, and distribute dividends by the end of each
year.
In one such cooperative in Iraq Al Amir, profits reached JD8,400 in 2003, out of
which JD2,119 was distributed in the form of dividends to women shareholders and
a portion was retained in an education fund for beneficiaries.
“These cooperatives have been well-equipped and women have been well trained
through the JDTC. Now they are fully capable of managing their own cooperatives,
soliciting their own customers and accessing several other marketing outlets,”
NHF Executive Director Hana Mitri Shahin said.
Given the tremendous success of the programme, the JDTC showroom in Amman will
be reallocated to Aqaba as of July 20. The cooperatives' diversified products
will be sold at the NHF showroom in Aqaba, located next to the museum, in
addition to other tourist's outlets and hotels throughout Jordan. The NHF
cooperatives unit will continue extending support to these cooperatives,
whenever necessary to ensure the ongoing success of their activities.
The closure of the JDTC showroom in Amman will “help further reduce the retail
prices of the handicrafts produced at the NHF- initiated centres, given
reductions in expenses associated with JDTC marketing and development costs”
said Shahin.
“This change will also improve the ability of the cooperatives to compete with
the private sector, which is expanding its market share in the handicraft sector
in Jordan,” the spokesperson added.
Throughout the history of the JDTC, over 1,500 women were trained to produce
high-quality handicraft items with innovative designs and a mixture of colours,
attuned to local, tourist and international market tastes and trends
The foundation will continue to be a catalyst, an initiator of new development
models and a training hub for Jordan and the region on such cultural and
economic initiatives, the statement said.
Furthermore, the NHF will continue to promote its integrated community
development programme and focus on extending assistance to women to become
skilled entrepreneurs through its Quality of Life Project and its Village
Business Incubator (VBI). This summer, the successful VBI model that started two
years ago in northern Jordan will also be replicated in Syria.
Since the NHF's inception in 1985, its ultimate goal has been to empower women
and communities to become self reliant and self-sufficient.