Basmeh and Zeitooneh women economic empowerment in Shatila

Basmeh and Zeitooneh is a grassroots community-based group set up by a group Syrians. It runs a community center in the Palestinian refugee camp of Shatila, trains women on entrepreneurial skills and provides successful trainees with small grants to assist them in launching their own business. Basmeh and Zeitooneh aims to empower women financially and provide psychological support in order to help them gain more independence. The training part of its current project stretches over two and half months, during which women are taught basic techniques of entrepreneurship such as how to buy, sell and barter goods, and ways of developing sustainable relations with customers. Top students are then invited to submit project proposals for starting their own business. Selected proposals can receive $800 in grant. Basmeh and Zeitooneh completed the first pilot of the project a few months ago following which 40 of the participants submitted their project proposals of which 31 were selected for funding. Successful projects included a nursery set up by four women, a sweets shop and a clothes’ store. However, despite being popular the project of Basmeh and Zeitooneh is now short of funding. According to the Daily Star who featured the work of the group, international donors who once supported the project have turned their attention away from Beirut which is no longer considered a priority area. (The Daily Star, 30 June 2015)