Project: Job training for Arab women
Program run at Arab communities across Israel seeks to help women without work experience acquire skills that would facilitate their integration into job market
In the first stage of the program, after the initial screening (whereby 85 were chosen of those that signed up), women participants will be separated into groups and will enter the process of personal and collective empowerment. In the next stage, the women will participate in a “soft skills” training course that will include 112 hours of guidance and instruction on the most efficient methods of searching for relevant positions.
For example, the program will offer help with professional resume writing, filtering want ads, and occupational Hebrew (useful concepts in Hebrew from the employment world). In addition, computer applications will be taught, which will provide instruction for basic computer programs like Microsoft Office as well as useful tools for internet navigation and information searches.
Participants of the program in a meeting this week (Photo courtesy of the Abraham Fund Initiatives)
Thirty additional women will participate in the new group, which will be opened this month in Sachnin. Overall, 115 women will be participating in the program this year from four areas, as opposed to last year's 75 in three areas, showing substantial growth in the program.
In the final stage after the training period, the women will participate in a job fair open not only to those participating in the program but all of the designated communities. The job fair is designed to place them into various jobs, following which the program will accompany them on their journey into new work environments.
Empowering Arab public
The initiative “Sharikat Haya” was established with the belief that the integration of Arab Women in the workforce will strengthen their societal and economic status and empower the Arab public as a whole, as well as the Israeli market at large. Program participants are women between the ages of 20-45, many of whom are mothers who have never been formally employed outside of their domestic roles in the home.
Thirty out of 75 women who participated in the initiative last year were placed in various positions. Many found work as salespeople and hostesses in large companies, assistants and caretakers, guides and more.
Sharikat Haya is made possible through the cooperation of the JDC’s Tevet and The Abraham Fund Initiatives, an NGO based in Jerusalem working to advanced social inclusion and equality for all of Israel’s citizens.
