Prime Highlights
- Seed Initiative launches with $1.5 million funding, reaching 520 women directly across vulnerable rural areas in Syria.
- King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Centre funds the project, with UNDP running it alongside Syria’s Ministry of Agriculture.
Key Facts
- Program runs 18 months, with indirect benefits expected to reach around 285,320 people.
- Launch event held at al-Sham Hotel in Damascus, backed by the Foreign Ministry’s International Cooperation Department.
Background
Syria started an 18-month, $1.5 million project this week to help rural women earn a living on their own. Officials named it the Seed Initiative.
The program gives women in poor rural areas job training, help starting small businesses, and better access to markets. It will reach 520 women directly. Around 285,320 more people nearby should benefit too.
Saudi Arabia’s King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Centre is paying for the project. The United Nations Development Programme is running it, working with Syria’s Ministry of Agriculture. Officials launched the program at al-Sham Hotel in Damascus. The Foreign Ministry’s International Cooperation Department backed the launch.
Women taking part will learn how to run small businesses, giving them new skills and new ways to earn money. The project will also build production units, food-processing plants, and composting facilities so rural communities can produce more and sell a wider range of goods.
Organizers will connect the women with buyers in nearby markets. That opens more chances to sell goods and find new customers. It also helps them keep businesses running over time. The main goal is higher incomes in rural areas, mainly for women in farming, food production and small trade.
Officials say the project targets areas hit hard by years of conflict and economic strain. They hope the model can later expand to other parts of the country.
