On the occasion of the International Day of Rural Women which falls on October 15 of each year, UN Women- Fund for Gender Equality, in collaboration with Lebanon Family Planning Association for Development and Family Empowerment (LFPADE) launched yesterday the social cooperative NESWA project in the Tyre town of Janata. The project involves four women-run coops in the Tyre villages of Abbasiyeh, Hmaira, Janata and Yanouh. During the launch ceremony, a UN Women presentation explained that NESWA is the outcome of LFPADE efforts over three years of the implementation of "Strengthening the economic situation of women in the district of Tyre" initiative. The latter, to recall, contributed to the empowerment of some 300 women and helped them shift from home-made producers to become competitive entrepreneurs in the local labor market. NESWA, according to the UN presentation, has constituted a rural model with high capacities competing in the domestic and global markets. For her part, the regional program officer at the UN Fund for Gender Equality, Rana Hujeiri, outlined the stages of the project, which she maintained, has accompanied rural women in changing their reality. The NESWA model, Hujeiri said, represents a qualitative leap in institutionalizing cooperative work, noting that the model has been developed by 9 experts who worked to build an integrated operational system for women's cooperatives with growth potential. Similarly, Nawal Jaber spoke on behalf of the participating women, saying the project has grown her confidence and steadfastness and opened the doors for continuity and sustainable stability. At the end, everyone toured a sideline exhibition which showcased products by NESWA, followed by the opening of a fully equipped cooperative kitchen, which is one of four founded by the project according to ISO22001 standards of excellence. (NNA, October 17, 2019)
