Amman, October 30 –Finn Church Aid FCA) and HelpAge International launched today, Wednesday, a Municipal Business Project (MUBU), funded by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, within a new systematic framework for adaptation programs.

The municipal business project aims to reduce the economic burden on needy families by paying special attention to young people, women, people with special needs and heads of families having older people or individuals with special needs to work to help them start businesses and provide social and health services for the older people and people with disabilities.

Through this 30-month project, the targeted groups of the local community, Jordanians and Syrian refugees, will be able to acquire the skills needed to build and expand sustainable business, guarantee a stable income, access social services and provide them to older family members.

To this end, Finn Church Aid (FCA) and HelpAge International will work in cooperation with local municipalities to provide social services, business training to community members and enable them to obtain financing for these businesses.

This project focuses on empowering community members with their families in the targeted areas to obtain the skills necessary to raise the level of income for their families.

It will also help to better equip municipalities to serve the local community, said Ashraf Yaacoub, the Regional Director of the Finn Church Aid in the Middle East.

Mrs. Stephanie Youssef, the Country Program Manager for HelpAge International in Jordan, pointed out that there are challenges about the income needs of older people in Jordan, especially older women, and the majority of them depend on the rest of the family members to support, according to a study conducted by HelpAge in Jordan last year.

It is worth mentioning that this project will seek to improve the welfare level of some families in the targeted communities through the programs and activities that it will work on in cooperation with the concerned authorities such as municipalities and local associations.