Abdul Latif Jameel Community Initiatives - Essay Example

?Introduction Abdul Latif Jameel Community Initiatives (ALJCI) was formally started in mid-2003 and all the initiatives implemented by ALJ Co. were brought under the perview of ALJCI. ALJ Co. had started the community service programs by sponsoring several local events and supporting certain Government projects. By the end of 2002, the company had introduced Taxi ownership initiative under which unemployed males received 10 cars (ALJCSP). By 2003, the company had initiated programs such Abdul Latif Jameel Professional and Vocational Rehabilitation Initiative, interest-free loans to candidates who were interested in receiving training for certain professions and the Saudi Red Crescent Society Development initiative. ALJCI today have various programs under the below mentioned categories- Art and Cultural Initiatives Education and Training Health & Social Programs Job Creation Poverty Allevation ALJCI functions majorly in Middle East countries apart from London, Turkey, Bangladesh and USA. Some of the major programs currently in operation are: Abdul Latif Jameel Toyota Endowed Scholarship – USA Al Nada Center for Social Care – Hail – Saudi Arabia ALJ Hospital – Saudi Arabia BRJ - Saudi Arabia BRJ Turkiye – Turkey Family Day Initiative for Prisoners – Middle East Grameen Jameel for poverty allevation – Middle East Jameel Gallery of Islamic Art – London Prince Salman Disability Research Center – Middle East Tanweer - Orphans Supporting Initiative – Middle East BRJ Program – Introduction ALJCI’s one of the major intiative is Bab Rizq Jameel (BRJ). This program directly focuses on job creation in Saudia Arabia. This program helps in transforming females from aid receivers to producers in Saudi society (BRJ, 2009 p 17). BRJ BRJ is considered to be one of 3 programs subsumed under the ALJCSI. The number of BRJ branches increased to 18 throughout the Kingdom (BRJ, 2010 p 3). There is an increase of 27% in job creation in 2009 which is more than 41,284 jobs when compared to 30,115 jobs created in 2008. The total jobs created reached by ALJCSP reached 113,855 in the year 2009 (Appendix 1). Given the rising and already high unemployment rates amongst women in Saudi which touched 19% in 2009 up from 13% in 2008 (ILO), BRJ was created to tackle the pressing issue of poverty caused by these high unemployment. BRJ mainly aims at creating job opportunities for young females and males through the following diversified programs: 1. Direct employment program: It mainly matches job seekers directly to vacancies in the private sector companies. In 2009 the program created 7,493 jobs of which 4,074 for males and 3,419 for females which is 11:9 ratio (BRJ, 2010 p 7). 2. Training ending with employment program: It focuses on vocational and craft training in areas required by the job market, and ends with employment of females and males, in the age group of 18-25 years, in companies within the private sector companies. In 2009, the program created 2,825 new jobs throughout the Kingdom and several training programs were conducted for both females and males (BRJ, 2010 p 7). Examples of training ending with employment courses include: For males: hotel services, cable-laying technician, restaurant services For females only: nursing assistant, make-up technician For both males and females: cashier, on-phone customer services, photography technician, nursing assistant, medical secretary However, BRJ job creation efforts are not limited to employment or training ending with employment, but they expand to include the following programs: A. Small Projects Program: This program finances owners of small projects through interest-free loans up to SR 200,000 which is equivalent to ?35,000 (Qard Hassan, zero-return loan for both males and females). In 2009 5,110 small projects have been financed which includes medical clinics, bakeries, female student transportation vehicles, sheep sales, sales of electronic appliances, vegetable and fruits, design and decor, etc. Repayment percentages in the above projects reached 97% and continuation of the projects up to 78% (BRJ, 2009 p 17). B. Productive Household Programme (Microfinance)1: This is the first microfinance initiative in the kingdom of Saudi Arabia aimed at supporting female owners of micro projects (strictly female clients) in order to upgrade their economic, and socio economic status and development. Some of the projects developed are commercial in scope & nature. For example some women work outside of their home and sell their goods in shopping malls such as Seirafi mall which BRJ has set up an agreement with that the BRJ clients may rent a stall for a fraction of the usual commercial rent price in order to be able to reach a wider customer base (BRJ, 2009 p 17). C. Franchise Program: It provides opportunity for businessmen to create new jobs for both young females and males by opening small branches for their businesses as long as it is an international brand. In 2009, 30 projects where approved of which 19 project were for males (63.33%) and 11 were for females (36.67%) which include care cafe, quick copy, carwash, etc. (BRJ, 2010 p 19). D. Taxi Ownership Program: These programs create jobs for Saudi males by helping them own and operate fully-equipped taxis. In 2009, 322 young males joined the programs and owned their vehicles to make a living as taxi drivers (BRJ, 2010 p 19). E. Truck Ownership Program: The program helps in the Saudization of the transportation sector. During 2009, 762 young males benefited from the services provided by the program (BRJ, 2010 p 19). F. BRJ International Branches (for both females and males): Two branches have been inaugurated in 2009 Egypt (Cairo) and Syria where 8,323 jobs where successfully created through the small projects finance and productive household programs. In 2009, the branch created 6,910 jobs and 254 small projects and 6,656 females have been financed in Cairo. In Syria (Tartous), 1,413 jobs were created and 963 small projects and 450 females have been financed. The international operations department is preparing to branch out to Turkey, Morocco, and Algeria. In 2010 BRJ international created 16,898 jobs (BRJ, 2009 p 21) Brj Rationale The main focus of BRJ is generally for poverty alleviation and more specifically job creation to tackle the high unemployment rates for women in the kingdom. The Productive Household program also referred to as family project is specifically designed for this purpose. BRJ Loan Process Women that are financed through this program can fall under any of the following categories; women that are not formally employed; women who have never been employed before; or women who have been employed in the past and are now unemployed yet they are they all poor Saudi women; The women’s average loan is approximately ?800 but they can take a loan up to ?1700 (SR 10,000) once they become a mature borrower and have passed through at least 3 cycles of repayment. They are only obliged to repay the principle amount borrowed with zero-interest loan (Qard Hassan). However, they are required to pay administration fees on registration, and it is a fix amount of around ?35 (SR 200). The female job-creation officer, from BRJ, visits them at home and explains to them the program principles and goals, and checks their projects and how they work. Consequently, if they are approved by the officer, the potential clients visit the BRJ branch closest to them and register for the program. They are required to provide the necessary paper work, which if in place, are then approved to receive the loan money. Women who get approved for a loan must have an existing micro project that is home-based or a promising valid idea that requires financial capital for startup. The group of females should consist of five Saudi females. One non-Saudi female could be accepted in the group, provided that she holds a regular residence permit. The group should be living in the same district or within a specific geographical area and should be between 18 to 65 years of age. Collections are made at the end of the month, and they are required to return back the money in a certain (agreed upon) period of time based on the amount of the loan. BRJ BENEFITS The benefit for BRJ is the satisfaction that they create jobs for the women by supporting and assisting them financially, and their benefit is that they have better livelihood and work to do, which could increase their income and financial independence. In 2009, 24,756 females have benefited this initiative, and repayment reached 99% throughout the kingdom (BRJ, 2009 p 17). BRJ ASSUMPTIONS: After numerous interviews with the director of the BRJ program, Mr. Ibrahim Badawood, more question then answers where generated through the in depth interviews and I will draw the following conclusion first and then exhibit the question that I found particularly as interesting areas to research. It was evident from the discussions with Mr Badawood that there was no language and no vision, and certainly not explicit interest in the implications of the BRJ Productive household on women in terms of gender relation within the household or their empowerment. Perhaps, which in itself is an assumption, the fact that there was no interest could mean that it is not a priority, that it’s not worth the time to investigate, or that apart from economic/financial support they are not willing to extend their support, or that there are simply ignorant to that reality or purposefully ignoring it because it does not serve their direct agenda, in the sense that they are first and foremost concerned with the economic aspect of the entire program. I, therefore, would strongly disagree with, because here you are dealing with human beings and specifically women, just because BRJ is giving them an opportunity to generate income and being blind to the intra household relations and power dynamics that are produced and reproduced in the household it does not necessarily mean that these women will be “upgraded”. Mr. Badawood reiterated a quote from the 2009 annual report “we are continuously supporting female owners of micro projects to upgrade their economic, social and life style levels” (BRJ, 2009 p 17), and when asked to elaborate on “social and life style levels” he simply replied “well that would emerge from making the women financially independent.” Mr. Badawood addressed to the notion/ goal of empowerment by stating “we did not have women empowerment as a main goal but rather the economic development first and foremost as a goal and then social status secondary or as a product of economic development.” (Badalwood, 2010) When asked why women were mainly selected as a gender for the microfinance program, he confirmed that given the statistics available from multinational development agencies, on how women tend to be better and more efficient re-payers, they have decided to focus on women in that regard and he was very happy to share that their default rate was 1% and this has been the case since the program’s inception in 2003. RESEARCH QUESTIONS REGARDING BRJ: When taking a closer look at the responses I got from Mr.Badawood I can’t help but wonder about the following questions- On a discursive level: What does it “mean” to establish a microfinance program for women in Saudi Arabia? What does it mean for both the borrowers and the lenders? What does it signify? What is the gender assumption? The implications? The expectations of such a program? What are the ideologies in Saudi in terms of gender/ power relations or lack thereof? Is BRJ just wanting to keep its focus in income generation or would they consider adopting their vision an policies to take into account women’s practical and strategic gender needs as opposed to “ focus on women in isolation from the rest of their lives and from the relationships through which inequalities were perpetuated” especially in the household of which they mainly occupy while experiencing their day to day life (Kabeer, 1994) Does accessing the informal economy (I say that because either project are mainly established in the homes) give these women power to renegotiate domestic roles and what dictates that in the context of Saudi Arabia? How is the women’s accessing to the informal labour market through microfinance affecting the power relations and the bargaining power within the family/household? Is their access to the informal economy as act of resistance? Or is it simply because of ‘rational choice’ (Becker) they doesn’t have any other alternatives (I say that because even though these women are doing this out of free will does not necessarily mean it is the right or most appropriate option for them, they might just nor have or know of any other alternatives and are being denied choice? Appendix 1 Works Cited ALJCSP About Us [Online] // ALJCSP. - March 20, 2011. - http://alj-full.s15383757.onlinehome-server.info/en/. Badalwood Mr. Director [Interview]. - Jeddah, Saudi Arabi : ALCSP Main Office, December 19, 2010. Becker Gary Rational Choice Theory [Online] // Wikipedia. - March 20, 2011. - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rational_choice_theory. BRJ Annual Report [Report]. - [s.l.] : BRJ, 2009 p 17. BRJ Annual Report [Report]. - [s.l.] : BRJ, 2009 p 21. BRJ Annual Report [Report]. - [s.l.] : BRJ, 2010 p 19. BRJ Annual Report [Report]. - [s.l.] : BRJ, 2010 p 7. BRJ Annual Report [Report]. - [s.l.] : BRJ, 2010 p 3. ILO G20 update [Online] // International Labour Office. - March 20, 2011. - http://www.ilo.org/public/libdoc/jobcrisis/download/g20_saudiarabia_statistical.pdf. Kabeer Naila Reversed Realities : Gender Hierarchies Through Development [Book Section]. - New York : [s.n.], 1994. Read More

 

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