USAID empowers women-led enterprises in Lebanon

The United States for International Development (USAID) marked its achievements under the Women's Global Development and Prosperity Initiative for Expanding Women's Labor Force in Lebanon (W-GDP: EWLFL), an initiative improving economic opportunities for women-led enterprises.   

Implemented by the Lutheran World Relief (LWR), a Corus International Organization, this initiative empowers marginalized women entrepreneurs in rural and peri-urban Lebanese areas by building their capacities and advancing their business skills from all Lebanon's sectors and regions.   

During the event attended by USAID Lebanon Mission Director Eileen Devitt, representatives from USAID, LAU, and LWR, as well as 200 W-GDP: EWLFL women participants, the occasion marked the graduation of 200 women-led entrepreneurs from a business entrepreneurship program offered by the Lebanese American University (LAU).   

LWR management remarked that women empowerment and gender inclusivity in the Lebanese Labor market are essential to launch the "renaissance, modernization, restore the confidence and socio-economic stability in Lebanon."   

Highlighting that their interventions also positively impacted the families and households of these women "amidst an unprecedented multifaceted and dire economic crisis that Lebanon has been passing through since October 2019."   

The Lutheran World Relief, a Corus International organization, will continue the support through Access to Finance (Grants and Loans), adding that "we will also pursue more women participants and engage more economically active women entrepreneurs to maximize our impact on the socio-economic stability in Lebanon."   

In turn, Mary Eileen Devitt, USAID Mission Director, stated this activity came at a crucial point in Lebanon's history, saying that "the activity paid off as 200 women were able to build sustainable and self-reliant businesses that thrive in competitive marketplaces."