Amman, April 24, 2019—IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, is joining forces with Ureed, a pioneering online platform providing linguistic services in the Middle East, to help increase economic and employment opportunities for women in Lebanon and Jordan.

IFC has signed a memorandum of understanding with Ureed, the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region’s first dedicated online marketplace focusing on translation and content services. The sector employs a high proportion of women.

The partnership will see IFC’s advisory services analyzing data on Ureed.com’s current business model, including the behavior of online customers, and how registered translators, copywriters and other content providers can enhance their profiles to meet customers’ needs. The project aims to work with 1,000 women service providers from Jordan and Lebanon through training and other advisory support to increase their online work opportunities.

“Our partnership with IFC will strengthen our efforts to digitize the linguistic services we offer across the region,” said Nour Alhassan, CEO of Ureed. “New technologies can help create more job opportunities for the many educated women across MENA and also help meet the growing demand for affordable and high-quality linguistic services from start-ups and smaller businesses in the region.”

The project is also part of an IFC effort to build resilience in Jordan and Lebanon, each of which are home to more than 1 million refugees. Innovative, income-generating opportunities for women will be crucial to help foster host community resilience.

Mouayed Makhlouf, IFC Regional Director for MENA, said, “Our partnership with Ureed is a great example of how start-ups can help bring innovations and offer new solutions to long-standing challenges. This is an innovative, holistic business model that can help create much needed new job opportunities for women, ultimately strengthening both the host and refugee communities in Jordan and Lebanon.”

Unemployment remains high in MENA, with women and young people especially affected. Despite significant increases in graduation rates, Jordan’s female labor force participation rate was estimated at about 14 percent, while Lebanon’s stood at 23 percent in 2018.

Source : IFC