Countries
Egypt, Jordan, Türkiye

Local Project Partner
Egypt: Central Bank of Egypt
Jordan: Central Bank of Jordan, Microfund for Women, Tanmeyah, Association of Banks in Jordan, Ahli Microfinance Company, Tamweelcom, BDC, INJAZ, Jordan River Foundation, JEDCO, Jordan Forum for Business and Professional Women, Norwegian Refugee Council
Türkiye: Ministry of Youth and Sports (MoYS), Turkish Grameen Microfinance Program (TGMP)

German Project Partner
Sparkasse Offenburg / Ortenau (Jordan)

Donor
Bundesministerium für wirtschaftliche Zusammenarbeit und Entwicklung (BMZ)

Duration
01.04.2025 - 31.12.2027

Women, girls and young adolescents in Egypt, Jordan and Türkiye face significant challenges in terms of their economic and social participation, access to basic financial and entrepreneurial education and financial inclusion. The barriers result from a combination of social, cultural, economic and legal obstacles that make it difficult for these groups to integrate into formal markets. This is often caused by a lack of financial and entrepreneurial education due to a lack of educational opportunities and high youth unemployment, especially among young people with little education or from disadvantaged families. Refugees and young people from rural areas have particular difficulties accessing the formal labour market as they lack access to mentoring programmes, for example, to close this gap. Refugee women are also consistently underemployed, usually work in unskilled and low-paid jobs or informally and are generally confronted with structural gender inequalities, gender-based violence and discrimination.

The project aims to improve the living conditions and social and economic participation of vulnerable groups in Jordan, Egypt and Turkey, thereby reducing structural inequalities and unequal treatment and achieving equal opportunities for all people. The aim is to achieve the financial and sustainable economic integration (financial inclusion) of vulnerable groups, in particular refugees, women and girls as well as young adolescents, by promoting financial education, strengthening digital literacy, supporting entrepreneurial activities and increasing the ability to use financial services.

Project tasks
As part of the regional project, vulnerable groups receive high-quality and practical training in the field of financial and economic education and are thus strengthened in their financial and entrepreneurial skills. The financial sectors in Egypt, Jordan and Turkey are strengthened and offer target group-oriented services for vulnerable groups. In addition, the network of relevant stakeholders in the project countries is strengthened and leads to intensified cooperation, exchange of experience and knowledge transfer at local and regional level.