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About us - Introduction to the VBI   

The Village Business Incubator (VBI) was established in July 2005 through the development cooperation Project “Establishing a village business incubator
for women’s micro and small enterprises in the coastal midlands area of Syria”.

 The first phase of the Project, a four year, launched in January 2005, is implemented by the Fund for Integrated Rural Development Of Syria (FIRDOS) with the technical assistance of the Italian Association for Women in Development (AIDOS) and funded by the European Union (EU), the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), FIRDOS and AIDOS. The second phase of the project lunches in April 2009 going on for three years.

The VBI's approach is grounded in the standpoint that women's active participation in the socio-economic life is a key precondition for an even development. Rural women in particular represent a more disadvantaged sector of the community in terms of poor education, self esteem, lack of exposure to new prospects and economic opportunities. In the coastal midland areas of Syria, women are mainly involved in small scale farming; this activity generates though minimal income and is insufficient for the livelihood of the household. The area is also affected by a high rate of unemployment leading to migration of men to urban areas; as a consequence, women are often left alone to manage their households.

The objective of the VBI is to promote women’s active role in the labour market through the creation of small/micro scale viable and self sustainable value-added enterprises. The VBI provides an open learning space for business skills creation, information and promotion; it focuses on business counseling, enterprise management training and follow up to monitor business performance. It is the first Incubator of its kind in Syria and one of the few in the Middle East. The VBI services are directed to rural women from Ain al Tineh and eight other villages in the target area: Baider Adera, Basta, Jwez, Hajar, Nabe al Khandak, Lifin, Al Karas and Zanboura. The VBI supports women displaying entrepreneurial spirit and motivation as well as already existing local micro-entrepreneurs.

The VBI operates to foster female entrepreneurship as a way to induce a more equal distribution of profits within the household and a better quality of life; stimulating, diversifying and promoting the local economy. Female entrepreneurship provides an opportunity to unlock women’s potential to become active agents of the socio-economic change and increases their exposure to new prospects and enhances their self esteem.

The pilot experience of the Village Business Incubator is also intended to contribute establishing a model for developing micro and small-enterprises that can be extended to the other rural areas of Syria.