The International Labour Organization in Beirut has been running a project in the Palestinian Camps of Nahr El Bared and Ein El Helweh entitled “Palestinian Women Economic Empowerment Initiative”. The project started in 2011 and targets lowincome Palestinian women entrepreneurs through a threefold strategy: giving out loans and grants to women business groups in order to expand their businesses; training women entrepreneurs to enhance their business skills; and building the capacity of support organizations in order to improve business development services for women entrepreneurs and training them to be formally certified to deliver business group formation training. The project builds on the potential of business groups in assuring the protection of Palestinian women entrepreneurs from risks through resilience, pooling of resources, and collective voice. The objectives are to assure a sustainable livelihood for Palestinian women entrepreneurs through supporting them in expanding their businesses beyond survivalist low-income activities
