Jordan USAID Mission Director Jay Knott visits women in their fields

Whether business owners, managers, or employees, the Program dedicates a huge portion of its efforts on women, due to their key role in uplifting any economy.

Jordan USAID Mission Director Mr. Jay Knott visited a few of the businesses that the program has supported for a first hand feel of the fruition of this support, and to discuss the optimal means for these women to move foreword in their careers.

Mr Knott was welcomed by Dr. Rana Bustami, Chief Executive Officer of Pharmaceutical Research Unit (PRU) - considered to be pioneers in contract research organizations (CRO) operations since 1993 and currently employs 40 employees 30 of whom to be females, while on its management level 5 out of 6 are females. The PRU is also the first in the Kingdom to conduct a full blown bioequivalence study on women.

The visit kicked off with a brief presentation highlighting PRU's vision and mission, previous experiences and services that are provided range from clinical studies, to data management and verification, to analytical services and regulatory support.

The presentation moved on to discuss previous support by the USAID Jordan Economic Development Program (SABEQ) that included support in Good Clinical Practices (GCP) and Good Laboratory Practices (GLP) inspection and training by US consultants, as well as participation in international and national events.

During a brief discussion that followed the presentation Mr. Jay Knott assured PRU that this is only the beginning and that the program will help in challenges that face the industry ranging from the workforce, to Quality System Assurance, business infrastructure, business environment, market access, and building a bridge between pharmaceutical companies and the ICT sectors.

From her end Dr. Rana Bustami assured Mr. Knott that through USAID support, PRU will be able to compete on an international level by upgrading their systems to comply with high international standards, to have broader services, and find optimal and efficient drug development solutions. The visit was concluded by a tour around the facility.

The USAID delegation headed by Mission Director then proceeded to its second visit - to Rawabi Creations, and was welcomed by owner Rawabi Abu Ghazaleh, who works on inspired jewelry to empower unique women, and who believes that the face of every woman tells a different story. The visit included a tour around the shop that showed her creations that are combinations of different fabrics, pearls, gems, and rubies to name a few.

Previous support by USAID Jordan Economic Development Program (SABEQ) included training on exports to help Rawabi export her own products in the future, as well as a marketing strategy plan. Rawabi has so far exhibited her jewelry in Morocco, Italy, Emirates, Tunisia, and Egypt.

The tour discussed challenges faced by the designer in marketing her products on a regional and international level, Intellectual property rights, and the need for jewelers to get together and share their pool of resources and expenses, with a view of marketing their products abroad. The artist also spoke of her vision of creating a theatrical performance that tells the story of her designs and her aspiration to be seen more on a regional and international level.

The tour was concluded to a visit to Badr Ad-Duja Arts and Crafts, and was welcomed by business owner May Khoury. The Arabic term - Badr Ad-Duja means 'a full moon', which grew over the years to include a wide range of old traditional costumes, textiles, and embroideries, as well as an array of antiques silver and jewelry alongside the home furnishings and accessories lines.

The tour included a visit around the shop and challenges were also discussed that included finding the means to bring in more buyers to the shop, as well as explaining to buyers reasons behind high prices due to the uniqueness of each design. USAID Jordan Economic Development Program (SABEQ) support also included training on exports to help owner May Khoury export her own products in the future, as well as a marketing strategy plan.

The program will follow up on the discussions that took place during the visits, and will find optimal solutions in helping not only the organizations that were visited today, but by far go further into supporting similar and different owners and managers for a brighter future, and encourage the uniqueness and hard efforts done to place Jordan in prominent positions on the maps of different sectors.