In 2023, we conducted the endline evaluation WE LEAD, a 7-year project designed and implemented by the World University Service of Canada. The project aimed to increase women’s economic empowerment in Jordan in the health and childcare sectors, with a budget of $9.993 million CAD.

Overview

The WE LEAD project is designed and implemented by World University Service of Canada (WUSC), and Canadian Leaders in International Consulting Inc. (CLIC) in collaboration with Jordanian project partners, including national and local governments, vocational training centers, the National Council for Family Affairs (NCFA), the Health Care Accreditation Council (HCAC) , community organizations, and private sectors. The project has been designed to pilot targeted and sustainable interventions alongside key Jordanian partners, which can then be adapted and adopted by the stakeholders for wider dissemination and application.

WE LEAD’s ultimate outcome is to increase women’s economic empowerment in Jordan for sustainable economic growth for sustainable economic growth through two intermediate outcomes: Intermediate Outcome 1: “Increased employment of women by businesses in health and childcare sectors in East Amman, Irbid, and Zarqa” . Intermediate Outcome 2: “Reduced gender specific barriers to women entering into and remaining in the workforce”.

During years of implementation the WE LEAD project has supported its partner, the NCFA with an innovative strategy that would pilot and support home-based nurseries in Amman, Irbid and Zarqa. This investment will increase the number of women who start their own businesses in addition to contributing to the increase of the number of women employed in such nurseries. The investment can solve the key barriers that prevent women from entering and remaining in the workforce.

Additionally, WE LEAD’s theory of change aimed to increase the awareness of women’s economic prospects, gender-based violence, gender equality, and conflict mediation among women, their families, and communities by conducting outreach initiatives at the national and local levels.

The evaluation explored the overall contribution of the WE LEAD project to increasing women’s empowerment for sustainable economic growth.  It focused on lessons learned and identified and recommended relevant inputs for future programming.