Economic Empowerment Program

Training Programs

The Economic Empowerment Program’s Training Program has been incredibly successful since we started implementing it three years ago.  The program includes multiple curriculums to help improve women & youth’s access to manual skills and craftsmanship.  These curriculums and trainings are based on the needs of the economic market in their areas.  The program is run across Lebanon, and over the last three years has trained almost 200 people in vocational skills.  

There are two parts to the program: the first is a Vocational Training Program, offering basic skill & contractual training.  The second is an Entrepreneurship Training Program. The Entrepreneurship program aims to help to impart Lebanese women and youth with the necessary skills to become part of the economic sphere.  This program has been split into two projects.  The first project is a basic or fundamental skill training for contractual work, such as invoicing pricing, preparing contracts, giving price quotations, basics of bookkeeping etc.  The second project is a more in-depth, knowledge-based training, focusing on market studies, visibility studies, branding, stress management, and financing skills.  For more information on these programs, check out our menu at the bottom of the page.

Overview

The Economic Empowerment program was created to give women & youth the tools to either build their own businesses, or to find jobs within the Lebanese marketplace.  The program works to achieve these goals through several avenues, specifically vocational training, entrepreneurship training, and micro grants for small businesses.

The YMCA has witness the improvement of so many lives through the economic empowerment program, by providing women and youth the means to excel in their careers and to build their local businesses.  By giving them this opportunity, we have watched the incredibly positive impact that they make on their surrounding community through bolstering the local economy.

The CITI Micro Entrepreneurship Awards (CMA)

Our Micro Entrepreneurship Program aims to support Lebanese entrepreneurs and the local economies throughout Lebanon by awarding the most innovative and successful businesses initiated by micro credit, which produced positive impacts in their communities.  The program includes not only awarding grants but also working with the small business owners to evaluate and improve their business plans overall.  The winners are expected to use the award in growing their businesses while continuing to fulfill their corporate social responsibility by hiring new staff from their local community. Through these grants we aim to contribute to long-term sustainability, improved development, and enhanced standard of living within local communities in Lebanon.