Women-led association organises festival of seasonal food products in Iraq Al Amir

AMMAN — The Iraq Al Amir Women Cooperative Society, supported by the Business Development Centre (BDC) and UNICEF, hosted a festival of seasonal agricultural products.

The festival, which showcased figs, pomegranates, olive, lemons, aimed to support local food production by women from the community and promote the services provided by the association, said a BDC statement. 

The main objective of the festival was to promote Iraq Al Amir region and the women’s cooperative society as a tourism destination for both domestic and international visitors.

The festival was attended by more than 500 people as well as foreign and local tourists who had the opportunity to see and taste the food products.

The festival was organised as part of the project “Supporting women-led associations in local communities”, implemented by the BDC and funded by UNICEF. 

The project aims to create sustainable job opportunities for females between the ages of 18 and 24 in the local community, through the establishment of productive projects within associations addressing unanswered community needs. 

Through the project, the BDC trained young women from the local community preparing and serving traditional cuisine, as well as on receiving visitors from different countries. 

 The Iraq Al Amir Women Cooperative Society also received material and equipment to develop a productive cuisine, recycle leaves from natural plants and turn them into decoration objects, as well as exhibit porcelain products. 

Thanks to the support of the project, the Iraq Al Amir Women Cooperative Society can now receive up to 100 visitors. 

Kholoud A Husami, from Iraq Al Amir region, said: “I was happy to take part in the festival and support the products of my region such as lemon, pomegranate, olives and figs in addition to handicrafts to improve the financial and economic situation of women from my community.”

Heba Muheirat, one of the beneficiaries of the programme, who received training courses in food production and hospitality, said: “I cannot thank enough UNICEF and the BDC for the trainings I received as part of the project. This programme gave me the opportunity to be ready to enter the labour market.”

Yusra Al Husami, member of the Iraq Al Amir Women Cooperative Society, said that the association aims to support young women with local distinctive products in promoting their products and hence reviving tourism in the region

Ghaleb Hijazi, the BDC vice president, said that the main goal of the UNICEF-funded project is to build the capacities of local community members to be able to provide services to domestic and international tourists and create permanent job opportunities for the Iraq Al Amir Women Cooperative Society through promoting Jordan’s national heritage.